Red Gloved Hands
by SunMoonKunochi
Summary: You've all read the stories where Lucy has a cry about Team Natsu kicking her off the team. The cliché thing is that she leaves Fairy Tail, falls in love with someone unexpected, either makes her own guild or joins Sabertooth and usually becomes a Dragon Slayer. Let me tell you now, this isn't one of those stories. It all starts with a heated argument and regrated words. NaLu baby.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello there, my name is SunMoon Kunoichi, but I'm mostly known as SunMoon. I love Fairy Tail, but I **_**can't stand the fandom!**_** Either everyone here is ten, or they write like it. It's really hard to find a story in this fandom that isn't written poorly, an AU, or…A cliché! **

**Why am I writing this then you may ask. Simple; pure anger.**

**Lucy is **_**NOT **_**just a cry baby who can't defend herself! She would **_**NEVER **_**leave the guild she strived so hard to get to just because of some harsh words. _SHE _**_**ESPECIALLY WOULD NEVER FALL IN LOVE WITH AN OC, STING OR ROUGE! IT'S NALU!**_

**And Team Natsu? **_**WHY IN THE NAME OF JASHIN-SAMA WOULD THEY KICK A BELOVED NAKAMA OFF THEIR TEAM?! **_

**I'll show you how it should be done. No running. No Lisanna being a bitch. No kicking people off teams. AND CERTAINLY NO LUCY BEING A FUCKING DRAGON SLAYER! WHAT THE HECK?!**

**This story concept is simple. It all starts with a conversation full of heated words and regretted words.**

* * *

**Disclaimer: **_No, I don't own Fairy Tail, but if I did, Lucy wouldn't be a cheerleader! She would be fighting with every inch of her magic ALL THE TIME!_

**Warning: **_Swear words (If you haven't read my other stories then you would know.) And you're younger than…Eleven? Ten? Probably don't read. OH! IF YOU HATE LISANNA. WANT A CRUEL (and unrealistic) FAIRYTAIL. AND YOU WANT ANY BULLSHIT LIKE STICY, DON'T READ!_

* * *

**3****RD**** Person P.O.V.**

Lucy fumed under her breath as she looked for clothes that weren't absolutely burnt to a crisp due to her teammates stupid flames. It seemed like she would never find _any _clothes that weren't burnt in places or reeking of smoke. The blonde rummaged in her bottom draws some more, a black piece of cloth grabbing her attention. She tugged at the article of clothing and stumbled back a few paces when it suddenly came free.

Holding the article up in front of her face, Lucy let out a small sigh of remembrance. "Mama bought me this when I was younger, for me to wear when I could fit them. I wonder if I still have the shirt to go with it…"

The blonde quickly stuck her hands back into the chest of draws and pulled all the clothing out, frantic to find the matching top. After a while of searching and several scattered clothing later, Lucy held up the midnight blue top triumphantly. "Suck on that draw! I have beaten you again!"

The chest-of-draws didn't answer her.

Scrambling up from the kneeling position she had adopted in order to look through the defeated draw, Lucy grabbed the black article of clothing and made her way into the bathroom in order to get changed. She didn't want _any _of her teammates to walk in on her again. Especially not her pink-haired partner.

Barely a minute later, the blonde emerged in her new outfit, posing in a cute way to show it off more. "I look good! As usual!"

The Celestial mage had donned ankle-length jeans that flared at the ends and a long-sleeved top whose ends also flared out. The top had holes where Lucy's ivory shoulders could show through and a decent neckline that exposed her sharp collarbone. She pulled on a pair of black, lace-up, ankle-length boots that went under her pants and fastened her belt through the belt loops on them. Checking that her keys and her newly acquired whip, Fleuve d'étoiles, were secure on it, Lucy decided to head to the guild in order to show her new outfit off.

"Yo, Lucy!"

The girl paused and vibrated with instant anger as – yet again – someone broke into her house. Namely that pink-haired partner who she didn't want to come barging in on her changing.

"Natsu…" Lucy hissed as she turned to the grinning boy sitting in the window frame. "How many times do I have to tell you?! Don't break into my apartment!" She was so tempted to plant a Lucy kick into his grinning face and to knock him onto the street below, but the bandages on his chest and arms stopped her. A familiar feeling of guilt crawled its way up her throat and froze her voice, making her unable to answer the Dragon Slayer's reply.

"I don't know, Lucy…" Natsu tapped his chin in a mocking way. "Maybe a few times." He waited for his partner to yell something in answer, or to 'Lucy kick' his face into the street below, but the blonde simply stood there staring at him.

Following her gaze, he looked down at his bandaged chest under his ever-present open vest. He looked back up to her face and noted the look of guilt in her eyes. "Luce…"

Her brow furrowed in answer and Natsu found himself jumping off the windowsill and gathering her up in his arms, wanting to comfort her in any way he could. "Luce, its fine. I've been in worse situations, remember! Just recently we versed those assholes who turned good in Edolas, and in the end I beat their asses just like I did to that chick yesterday. So what's wrong?"

"…It's my fault." For the first time, Lucy pulled away from Natsu's grip. She wasn't crying like he expected, just a blank look crossing her face when she moved a few steps back and away from him.

Hurt washed over him momentarily, but he pushed that aside in order to make his weirdo teammate see that she wasn't to blame for the mission that went awry yesterday.

"It's not your fault, Luce. That chick just got the jump on you and I came to rescue you as usual. It's just the same old mission stuff that always happens. Okay?"

What Natsu didn't notice was the hurt that crossed Lucy's face, hidden by her long bangs and currently loose hair. Her hands clenched so hard that the knuckles turned white and her nails bit deeply into her soft skin, causing small trickles of blood to creep through her fingers. "...So that's what you think of me?"

"Huh?" Natsu did a double take at her dead voice. "What do you mean, Luce? What are you on about? You're acting weirder than usual, you weirdo."

"…All I am to you," the breathless voice was hard to pick up, even by Natsu's enhanced ears. "All I am to you…is some damsel in distress that needs to be saved?!" Lucy's voice picked up by the end, coming in a near scream of anger. "I'm just some damn princess who needs a bloody prince to come in and save her?!" She stomped forward angrily and jabbed bloody fingers into his chest. "Is that all I am to you, Natsu?! Huh? It's _such _a task to make sure poor, little Lucy doesn't get killed! Well, news flash, buster!" Lucy pushed her angry face against Natsu's surprised one. "I'm a Celestial mage and a proud member of Fairy Tail. _I_ _don't need your protection_."

Now, it's not to say that Natsu wasn't shocked or angered by Lucy's sudden burst of rage at his careless comment, because he was. What he didn't realise was that hurt was more prominent in his emotional system at that moment. Hurt that his blonde partner was being so angry, so _cruel _in his presence. Hurt that she didn't want him near her, to watch over her and make sure that she was safe. _Hurt _because he _wanted _to be the one to save her and be her protective dragon. That was his _job _with Lucy. She was so powerful, but she was so frail at the same time. He _had _to protect that innocence she held, it was the best part about her. He thought she _liked _that. She _did _say she liked assertive men.

So in his confusion at his hurt, Natsu focused on the familiar feelings of rage that were simmering in his stomach, bringing them up to boil over his other confusing emotions.

"Don't need my protection? _Don't need my protection?!_" It was now Natsu turn to jab accusing fingers at the blonde, searing her exposed collarbone slightly in his rage. "You always need protecting, Lucy Heartifilia! Every time we are in a fight you hide behind your spirits or I have to save you! You _need _protecting because you're not strong enough to protect yourself! So don't you _dare _go pointing fingers at me because _I'm _the only reason you're at this guild. OR EVEN ALIVE!"

Lucy's eyes became glazed with tears. Of anger or shame she did not know, all she knew was that she wanted this pink-haired bastard out of her place and far away from her!

"…Get out."

Natsu's eyes widened involuntarily at her cold voice, something he had never heard from her.

"Didn't you hear me?! GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY PLACE! AND IF I EVER SEE YOUR FACE HERE AGAIN I'LL KICK YOUR ASS!"

Natsu scrambled back from the furious – no. Words couldn't describe how angry she looked – blonde who began throwing anything around her at the Dragon Slayer in hopes of hitting him. He had never heard the mage swear like that before. Heck, he didn't even know if she had ever swore. So he did the smart thing and made his escape out of the window.

"That bastard." Lucy gripped tightly onto her lamp that she going to throw next at Natsu. Her anger mounted again and she gripped the lamp even tighter, so tightly that cracks began to form in its metal casing. The cracks grew bigger and bigger until it finally shattered, the shards cutting her already bleeding hands to ribbons.

"Fuck him!" She threw the last pieces of the lamp at wall, not caring that it caused a massive dent in the plaster or that the landlady was sure to kill her. "I'll show him! I'll show all of the people who ever doubted me!"

Flinging herself onto the pink comforter that covered her bed, memories came unbidden to the angry Celestial mage.

_The cannon fodder of Erigor's men leered at her, taunting her to attack._

'_I'll show them!'_

But all she did was break their weapons and cut off their hair. It wasn't even her who did it! Cancer did it for her!

Lucy's hands clenched onto the comforter, the pink slowly being overcome with red.

_Taurus's hands were planted either side of her, not even touching her, but still keeping her confined. Sherry laughed mockingly as she controlled her own spirit._

'_If only I could do something!'_

But…she did.

She learnt how to force close a gate and she managed to clothesline that girl, effectively knocking her out. And where was Natsu? How was he going to save her when he wasn't anywhere near her?

_The guitar creep who introduced himself as Vidaldus was laughing and screaming about hell. Juvia had been taken over by him and was currently shredding me to pieces with her whirlpool created by her own body. My breath was running out, I was drowning in water!_

"_Juvia doesn't want to hurt her new friends…"_

She didn't. Lucy broke the curse on Juvia and they did a _freaking Unison Raid!_ Priests spent years trying to be able to perform such a feat in magic, and Lucy and Juvia managed to do it without any experience and had defeated Vidaldus.

"I'm strong…"

_Bixslow laughed crazily at me as his 'babies' drifted around him, occasionally throwing beams of pure magic energy at mer._

"They all said I was a weak girl. That I should quit being a mage."

_Angel held a cannon up at my face and it glowed eerily with magic._

"So many people said I couldn't defeat them…"

_Fleuve d'étoiles snapped and coiled around Byro, taking him down with my own strength as I pulled at the handle of the whip._

"But I did!" Lucy pushed herself up off her bed and stared down at the scarlet comforter beneath her. "Every time I was told I couldn't or I shouldn't, I won." A sudden thought struck her and made her bolt upright. "…Every time Natsu wasn't there to save me…I won."

The sudden revelation made her pause all thoughts and simply stare down at her red hands. "All I've done is stay with Team Natsu where it is safe, but I always perform better when I'm fighting alone. When I am _actually able _to fight for my own life, I win and grow stronger."

The blonde stood up and clenched her hands determinedly. "I swear on the blood that I bleed and my duty of Celestial mage, I will get stronger!" A victorious grin crossed her face, one that she hadn't worn before, one that was hungry for a challenge. "And a Celestial mage can't ever go back on their words!"

* * *

The guild of Fairy Tail was having a rare quiet day. Not many people were milling about the guild, but those who were currently milling were listening to the newly not-dead Lisanna's stories about their Edo-counterparts.

"Nab?" Lisanna let out a short laugh. "Nab is the biggest workaholic I've ever seen! There's not a moment when he's not on a job!"

The rest of the guild laughed at that and jeered at the Earthland-Nab who was – as always – standing at the request board.

Suddenly the doors of the guild were opened. They had been closed against the chilly rain that had been falling for the last couple of days, and their opening wasn't welcomed in the war atmosphere of the guild. A fair few guild members shivered in the sudden onslaught of cold and looked up from their mugs of ale in order to yell at them.

"Why'd you have to open the bloody door, bunny girl?" Gajeel glared at the blonde who carefully closed the door behind her, being considerate – as always – of other people's wellbeing.

"Sorry Gajeel!" Lucy smiled apologetically at the Iron Dragon Slayer and made her way past him to the bar where she was to be served by Mirajane.

Gajeel sniffed the sir as she went past, checking if Salamander had been near her recently as he hadn't come to the guild today. He then froze at the distinct smell of burning pepper and a familiar one of metallic taste, so different from Lucy's usual scent of vanilla and flowers.

'The pepper normally means bitterness, or anger.' Gajeel studied the girl carefully as Mira gave her some sort of fruit drink. 'And that metallic smell…' His keen eyesight focused on the blue top she wore, more specifically, the red that fringed the sleeves and hem of the shirt and slowly crept away in a distinctly veined fashion.

Gajeel crunched down on some nails as he mulled over bunny girl's new look. 'I thought it was part of the shirt design, but that's blood.' And the red showed through on the cuffs of black pants, somehow also staining them.

'Her hands as well.' What he thought were red gloves were, in fact, blood caking them so much that they formed a layer almost alike to the article of clothing Gajeel was led to believe it was.

'What the hell happened to bunny girl? That's her own blood.' Gajeel swallowed the nails before deciding to do nothing about the situation after some more deliberation. 'Someone will notice it sooner or later.'

But they didn't.

The blood on Lucy's hands didn't even smudge as she drank from the perspiring glass of juice that Mira had given her. She was quietly listening to the stories that Lisanna was telling, her thoughts anywhere but on the matter of the blood that covered her hands.

'Natsu would prefer someone strong like Lisanna on his team, and as his partner.' Lucy furrowed her brow in thought. 'She's really strong _and _she was his best friend when they were younger. They would be perfect together.' She swirled the pulp of the juice at the bottom of her glass absentmindedly. 'I should take my own advice and try out other partnerships with other people. I've only ever been on jobs with Natsu, Happy, Erza and Gray, I should make better friends with everyone.'

Lucy spun around on her chair and stared out across the guild, noting that she didn't know most of the people and that she would prefer to work with people she at least knew the names of.

Pigtailed blue hair caught her attention and Lucy focused her gaze on the tiny girl sitting with her white cat at a nearby table. 'Wendy would be good to team up with. We – _Team Natsu_ – brought her to the guild, yet we haven't brought her into the team properly. I wonder why that is?'

Mind made up, Lucy thanked Mirajane for serving her and quickly hopped off her usual stool, intent on getting a new job. She made it halfway to the request board before she was blocked by an angry blue-haired girl.

"Love rival!"

Lucy tried to backpedal away from the enraged Juvia, but found her way blocked by a small barrier of water that flowed from the Water mage's arms.

"Love rival!"

"I heard you the first time, Juvia!" Lucy raised her hands up in a surrendering manner. "I don't like Gray in that way at all!"

As usual, her truthful words were ignored by Juvia.

"Juvia can see through love rival's words! Love rival just wants Juvia's Gray-sama for herself!"

Instead of repeating her usual words that often resulted in getting drowned by an angry Juvia, Lucy decided to use the brain she was so proud of in order to get out of this situation and to help the resolve she made earlier on.

"Juvia."

The Water mage paused at her love rival's quiet voice.

"I don't like Gray like that. But as I can't seem to convince you otherwise, I'll just have to convince him to like you!"

"What?!" Juvia's water barrier transformed into her arms which grabbed her face in shock. "Love rival wishes to help Juvia get Gray-sama's attention?!"

Lucy nodded, getting her confidence back as she was now in charge of the situation. "Of course, Juvia! You deserve the man you want and I'm more than happy to help you out!" She then ducked her head and muttered the last part. "As long as you stop trying to drown me."

Juvia didn't hear the last comment, too wrapped up in her own fantasies about Gray. "If Lucy-san says she'll help Juvia, then Juvia will hold it to her!"

"Just call me Lucy. And didn't you know?" Lucy gave Juvia a thumbs up. "Celestial mages never go back on their words! Not ever!"

A squeal erupted from Juvia's mouth as she launched herself at Lucy in a hug. "Juvia thanks you so much, Lucy-san!"

"Lucy!"

"How can Juvia repay Lucy-san back for this?"

Lucy carefully extracted the clingy mage while thinking about the question. "Well, Juvia…I was about to go on a job, do you want to come with me?"

"But doesn't Lucy-san go with Salamander-san on jobs?" Juvia asked innocently.

"Um." Lucy flinched slightly. "Natsu and I are…having a…disagreement right now, so I'd prefer to go on a job alone." She then looked across to Juvia. "Or with someone new."

"Juvia understands." The blue-haired girl grabbed Lucy's wrist and began to pull her along. "Let's go find a mission, Lucy-san!"

For what felt like in a long time, Lucy laughed. "Okay, Juvia, just let me get our other members of this job."

"Other members?" Juvia glared suspiciously around the guild. "Love rivals?"

"No, Juvia." Lucy continued to giggle. "Wendy is much too young for love yet and Carla is a cat; I think you have no competition in your pursue of Gray."

Juvia didn't look convinced, so Lucy sighed and walked through the guild in order to get to the table where Wendy was having a conversation with Carla.

"Hello Carla, Wendy."

The small girl and her exceed companion looked up to see Lucy smiling happily down at them, waving a red gloved hand at them.

A pain came over Carla's head and she froze as sudden visions overcame her.

_Red gloved hands…_

_A tree falling over an island…_

_Glowing white lights and several guild members holding hands…_

_Lucy with planets floating around her and eerily glowing eyes of golden light…_

_Natsu screaming out…_

"Are you alright, Carla?"

The exceed started and looked up to see Lucy and Wendy gazing down at her in concern. "Ah, yes, I am quite alright. Just zoning out for a moment, beg your pardon. What are you here for, Lucy?"

The blonde laughed sheepishly and ruffled her unbound hair in a manner that remind Carla of that pink-haired buffoon that was always with her. "I was wondering if you guys wanted to come on a job with me and Juvia." She thumbed back at the girl she mentioned. "You can pick the job if you like, Wendy!"

"Uh," Wendy twiddled her fingers nervously, "I would like to go on a mission with you, Lucy-san. I don't mind if you pick."

"Wendy!" Carla complained to the girl. "If you wish to be taken seriously than stop being so meek!"

Lucy giggled. 'Carla is such a mothering hen to Wendy!'

"Okay then!" Lucy grabbed Wendy's hand as the girl slipped off the seat she was on. She quickly grabbed Juvia's hand as she went by, giggling some more when Juvia squealed with excitement. "Let's go find ourselves a job!"

"Okay, Lucy-san!"

"Of course, Lucy-san."

**"Just Lucy!"**

* * *

Natsu sighed and scratched his head in frustration. It was afternoon now and he _still _didn't know what to say to Lucy in order to make up for the harsh things he said earlier on in the day. He didn't mean to say all those things to Luce, it just…came out. This was the first real fight he had ever had with the blonde and he was somewhat scared about what had happened between him and his partner.

He let out another sigh before perking up; Lucy would be at the guild, he could say sorry to her then and use the puppy eyes on her. That always worked.

Pushing his way through the last few step of howling wind, Natsu managed to shove open the doors of the guild and escape inside and out of the rain that didn't bother him at all.

"SHUT THE DAMN DOOR, NATSU!"

"IT'S FREEZING YOU OAF!"

"Aw, shut up you lot!" Natsu grinned good naturedly at his fellow guild members before making his way over to the bar where a large group were sitting around Lisanna and listening to her stories. Mirajane stood nearby, absently wiping a glass with a rag as she listened.

"Hey, Mira!"

The white-haired girl looked up, startled, before realising that it was Natsu calling for her. "Oh! Hello, Natsu! What can I do for you?"

The pink-haired mage flopped down on his usual seat that was situated right next to Lucy's – something that Mirajane often gushed over – and grinned widely at the bar mage. "Do you know where Luce is?"

Mirajane paused in her cleaning as she thought about it. "Well, she came in earlier, about three hours now." She peered at Natsu curiously. "And without you, which is rare. Why's that?"

Natsu fiddled with his scarf as his mood turned sombre. He mumbled something that Mirajane couldn't hear. "What was that, Natsu?"

"I said we had a fight." Natsu turned his head to the side in a sulky manner and didn't look Mirajane in the eyes.

"Oh no!" Mirajane gasped. "Trouble in paradise! Could my beloved ship be breaking apart?"

"Calm down, Mira-nee." Lisanna poked her head into the conversation as she sat next to Natsu. In Lucy's seat, no less. "Lucy-san was here before Natsu. And wearing such nice clothes as well!" The younger Strauss sister cupped her face and leant on her elbows. "She looked as pretty as usual."

"Yes she did, Lisanna!" Mirajane squealed at the thought of Lucy's new outfit. "It was so different from usual! I know she likes the colour blue, but she doesn't usually wear black. And that design on her clothes!" She let out another squeal.

"I know what you mean, Mira-nee." Lisanna twirled a finger along the bar's bench. "The red designs on her clothes were so pretty! Like a webbed pattern! And those red gloves!"

Natsu had zoned out for the entire conversation after Mira had told him that Lucy had come in early, but he jolted back to the conversation when he heard the last comment. "Red designs? Lucy didn't have red designs on her clothes!"

Lisanna blinked at his sudden outburst. "Of course she did, Natsu! You don't notice much so I believe you didn't notice her clothes." The girl giggled lightly.

"I always notice Lucy's clothes!" whined Natsu unthinkingly before he thought deeply about how Lucy suddenly had red designs on her clothes.

'Wait!' His eyes widened significantly, alerting the two Strauss girls to the fact that something was up.

"Lucy's room!" He jumped up and clenched the bar's bench. "I went back to it after we fought in order to apologize to her and it smelt like blood! I thought it was mine from my bandages, but…" He paused and tugged at the bandages covering his chest, noticing for the first time that what looked like bloody fingerprints covered it. "She was bleeding from her hands!"

"Are you sure it wasn't just her new red gloves, Natsu?" Mirajane looked at him sceptically. "I've never seen her wear them before so they might've been shedding some of the colour onto you."

"You're wrong there."

The three Fairy Tail mages turned at the gruff voice to see Gajeel staring right at them from a nearby table.

"What do you mean by that, metal face?!" Natsu clenched his fists at the Dragon Slayer.

"I mean," Gajeel grumbled under his breath, "that bunny girl was _covered _in her own blood. It was caking her hands, shirt and pants. She absolutely reeked of her own blood and I don't get how you guys couldn't smell it." Gajeel turned his serious gaze straight into Natsu's own. "Or the bitter anger she was feeling."

At Natsu's shocked expression, Gajeel took it as his cue to leave the conversation and turned back to his cat who was meditating on the table. "I wonder when that idiot will realise his feelings for bunny girl."

Lily didn't open his eyes when he answered him. "About the time when you realise yours."

"What the hell do you mean by that, Lily?"

"Nothing."

Over by the bar, the conversation between the two female Strauss's and Natsu was continuing, concern tinging all of their words. "Why was Lucy-san bleeding everywhere?" Lisanna looked horrified at the prospect of walking around with blood covering oneself. "And why wouldn't she wipe it off or something?"

"I don't know." Natsu let out a low growl. "But I swear I'll find out! Mira!" He turned on the barmaid. "Where. Is. Lucy?!"

"She went on a job, brat."

Natsu glared up at the sudden appearance of Makarov, who was leaning over the balcony. "Tell me what job, gramps!"

"So you can go off gallivanting after her?" Makarov tapped his ever-present staff against the wooden floorboards. "Not likely, brat. Lucy has teamed up with two other of our members, and although something may be up with her right now, she'll be fine with them. So just wait for her return, then you can fix up whatever you screwed up so badly to hurt one of my children!"

And with that, Makarov went back to his office, mindful about the hurt that two of his brats were currently feeling.

'If those two don't make up properly…' Makarov let out a sigh. 'I don't want to think about what could happen…'

* * *

Lucy set off another round of laughter from her companions from stories of when she was travelling around Fiore before she came to Fairy Tail.

"That's a great story Lucy-sa-Lucy!" Wendy quickly corrected herself so as to not get the blonde angry.

"Calm down Wendy." Lucy ruffled the girls hair as the group of girls made their way down a road to their clients house. "I'm not going to bite you if you keep putting such polite honorifics at the end of my name. I just don't want you to see me as a person of authority that you can't talk to." She tapped the younger girl on the nose. "Okay?"

"Y-yes!"

"Juvia thinks Lucy-san doesn't know where we're going." Juvia stared around at the unfamiliar town they were in. "Is Lucy-san sure that Juvia and…friends must go this way in order to meet the client?"

"I'm sure Juvia," deadpanned Lucy. "I've been here before with…my team."

"Juvia understands that Lucy-san is fighting with Salamander-san, but why is she not going with Gray-sama or Erza-san?"

Lucy looked slightly sad at that. "Well, Natsu said I was too weak to protect myself, and he's right. I always let him, Gray or Erza protect me and didn't stand up for myself. But that time's over!" She planted her feet and shouted at the sky. "I will become stronger because that's my promise as a Celestial mage!"

Carla continued to walk past her. "That's nice and all, but can we just do this mission?"

Lucy deflated at the casual dismissal of her promise and wrung her red hands. "Yeah…I guess so."

Again the blonde didn't realise she was wearing blood as a new design on her clothes. She was unaware of the fact that her ex-partner was currently worried sick over her wellbeing. She forgot about the bleeding wounds on her hands that added layer upon layer to the pair of red gloves she wore on her hands.

* * *

**So yeah…that turned out **_**way **_**more different than I expected or hoped. I was all pumped up on a screaming match in front of the guild, but then stuff happened, and then Lucy was bleeding, and Natsu was being his usual oblivious self, and then there were gloves…**

**I have no idea! When I write, I don't especially plan and weird stuff happens that I don't expect. But in this story, expect friendships being formed between Lucy and a lot more guild members and her getting a whole heap stronger. ****In an explained way! Because people in this fandom don't realise that instant power-ups are shit and are one of the worst things you can do in writing about a fighting fandom. Take Naruto for an example, at least you can pin the power-up on a kekkai genkai (blood limit). Fairy Tail? The only thing that Fairy Tail has ever done with instant power-ups is Dragon Force and Origin magic, and they're **_**explained**_**.**

**Okay then, I've done my rant and junk. Don't expect this story to be updated often as **_**Mimic **_**and **_**From the Valleys to the Heavens **_**comes first.**

**So tell me what you think!**

**Bye!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello everyone!**

**Well it's troublesome to say but, not many people seemed to have gotten the whole gloves thing, so I guess I'll have to explain it. Mendokuse…**

**The gloves essentially is…a metaphor.**

**Yes, gasp! A metaphor. It's actually two different metaphors all rolled up into one beautifully bloody package. **

**The first metaphor is the whole saying; 'the gloves are off!' You know, when shit gets serious, the person takes their gloves off in order to get serious. So basically, later on in the story (when she's actually strong and has a reputation), people will see Lucy and be all like; 'Oh my sweet Kami! Isn't that Lucy of Fairy Tail?! The red gloves of blood is a dead giveaway! Oh no! She's taking them off! She only takes them off when she gets serious!' Get it?**

**The second is having a dig at Lucy's apparent innocence. She is said to be so pure even after having so many bad things done to her. Well, it's reverse here. Lucy now has blood on her hands (anger does that), and as such, she's not so innocent anymore. Basically I'm saying that she's not a prissy little girl anymore and she can now beat the crap out of anyone with no remorse.**

**Huzzah!**

**Now that that's out of the way, on with the story!**

* * *

**Disclaimer: **_My owning of this manga is non-existent like the money I wish I had. Also, the OC in this is owned by FairyTailGirl2, I'm just using her as a request!_

**Warning: **_Language and maybe some fighting? I dunno_

* * *

**3****rd**** Person P.O.V.**

Lucy let out an exasperated sigh and ruffled her unbound hair. "Man, that client was _way _too edgy. I know that some of his townspeople have gone missing but…"

"Juvia gets what Lucy-san means," said Juvia. "Client-san seemed rather stressed out to Juvia."

Wendy tugged on one of her twin ponytails as she looked up between the two older girls. "The client said we had to meet up with another mage who had taken the job didn't he? He said it was a travelling mage had taken the job, but wasn't able to take down all of the dark mages."

"Yep!" Lucy pumped her arm excitedly. "Let's meet this girl and finish this job successfully! Man, I'm so pumped up for this!"

The trio of girls and one girl-cat made their way along a street towards where their client had told them their other companion for the job could be found. Apparently the other mage had taken the job before the client had found out that it was a bunch of dark mages kidnapping the townspeople, he had believed that they had somehow just gone missing. The girl had been too stubborn to leave, so our group of girls were going to meet her in order to get more information on the situation and to help save the townspeople.

"Lucy-s-Lucy?"

Said blonde looked down at blue-haired girl who was walking beside her nervously. "What is it Wendy?"

"Um…" The girl continued to fiddle with her hair for a bit before drawing up the courage to answer the question. "I was just wondering why you had…blood all of you? I can smell that it's your own blood, but you don't seem to be in discomfort. Do you wish me to heal your wounds?"

"E-eh?!" Lucy looked down at her body and _finally _realised that her hands were a bright red colour. "What on Earthland?! I don't get it! Where the hell did this blood come from?!" She then turned on the taller blue-haired girl next to her. "Why didn't you tell me Juvia?!"

"Juvia thought Lucy-san was trying out a new fashion." Juvia shrugged in a confused way before continuing to walk. "Juvia thinks that Lucy-san should pay more attention to things."

"Blood on yourself?" Carla tutted. "How unladylike."

Lucy slumped at their casual dismissal of her predicament and tried in vain to rub the blood off her hands. "Damn it! This stuff is dried solid!" She pushed the blood soaked sleeves of her blue shirt up in order to pick at the edge of the gloves which ended near her mid-forearm. "How the hell do I get this off?" The red of the blood began to peel off, but came away in an intact thick sheet that went around her entire arm. "What the…?"

"Ah Lucy." Wendy widened her eyes at the sight of the bloody layer that came off like a normal glove. "What…?"

"I have no idea Wendy." Lucy stared disbelievingly at the perfectly intact glove before beginning to peel the other off. "But if there's one thing I've learnt since joining Fairy Tail, is to get used to the weird things that happen. It's best just to nod at it and continue on."

The younger girl nodded hesitantly at this before walking on. "Okay Lucy…"

The group continued to walk on in companionate silence, Lucy sliding the pair of gloves through her belt as she had no bag to put them in.

"Juvia thinks we are here."

The group stopped in front of the door of a Bed and Breakfast that had a homey feel to it. The client had told them that their companion was temporary staying here in room four, so swinging open the wooden door, the girls made their way into the common room of the place.

"Hello dears!" A cheery looking woman popped up in front of them, startling them somewhat. "How can I help you?"

"Ah, hello." Lucy took lead of the conversation after some nudging by an irritated Carla. "We are simply looking for a girl who is staying here right now. A girl called…Jessie, she's currently staying in room four here. Do you mind if we go talk to her?"

"Not at all!" The woman clapped her hands before turning around and bouncing away. "Follow me dears!"

"Juvia thinks that people here have strange attitudes," the Water mage commented as she followed the woman. "Juvia is not sure she likes it."

Wendy, Lucy and Carla followed after her, nodding at her comment. They made their way to the back of the wood panelled room, skirting the random tables that were placed here and there. The woman beckoned them up a narrow flight of stairs before bouncing her own way up it.

"I wonder if this girl is strong." Lucy mused as they came out into a corridor with doors framing them in selected intervals. "It would be a shame if she wasn't."

"She's in here dears." The woman smiled at them before waving goodbye. "I must be off. So many things to do! So many things to do!"

"Why did she repeat it twice?" Asked Carla.

All she got were shrugs in answer.

"Are you going to knock Lucy?" Wendy looked to the blonde who blushed slightly before knocking lightly on the door. "Hello? Is a Jessie Oaks in here? We're mages from Fairy Tail who are here to help you do this job with the dark mages." Lucy winced when she heard a banging noise. "Is anyone there?"

Several scuffling noises echoed from behind the door before it creaked open, a brown eye flashed out, glasses making them shine even more. "Fairy Tail wizards?" The voice sounded young, but not quite as young as Wendy's, almost innocent in a sense.

"Yes," said Carls impatiently. "Now would you hurry up and open the door?"

"Oops." The voice giggled before the door was flung open dramatically. "My name's Jessie Oaks and it's a pleasure to meet you all!"

The girl was cute in a scatterbrained way. Her brown eyes was fringed by hair that was half kept back by a bow, while the rest of the brown-blonde hair fell loose in messy waves. Her midriff grey shirt was simple and nice, but the white tank top underneath kept slipping off her shoulders like she had bought it several sizes too big. Her jeans were simple, but her black and white checked flats had no socks on, like she had hurriedly stuffed them on before she answered the door.

"Hello there." Lucy waved cheerfully at the energetic girl. "My name's Lucy Heartifillia and these are my companions; Wendy Marvell, Juvia Lockser and Carla." She pointed to the respected people before putting out her hand for a handshake. "It's our pleasure to work with you on this job. Do you mind if we come in and discuss the job?"

"Not at all." The girl pumped Lucy's arm up and down excitedly before ushering the group in. "I apologise for the mess in advance."

The simple room looked like a clothes bomb had gone off and Jessie sheepishly began cleaning up the clothes as the Fairy Tail mages sat down on any surface that was clear.

"So what do you want to know about the job?" Jessie asked after she had cleaned the mess away into a deceivingly small bag. "I can tell you now that there is twenty dark mages, ranging from weak to fairly strong and offensive types of magic. They are keeping the group of thirty hostages in the nearby forest, they are doing so as to get as much money from this town as they can. Grahmur may not be a magic-based town, but it is fairly wealthy from its good attractions. The leader of the group of mages is a man called Kasumi, he uses a form of magic simply known as re-quip."

"We know that magic." Lucy chipped in as she tried to process _how _this seemingly scatterbrained girl had so much information on the situation and _how _she was delivering it in such a professional way.

"Ah yes, Titania Erza is in your guild is she not?" Asked Jessie as a magic seal formed around her hand.

Lucy tensed her muscles in case of an attack and she could feel Juvia doing the same beside her, but they both relaxed when a screen full of text appeared in front of the girl.

"You used Archive magic?" Wendy asked curiously as she stared at the girl who was scrolling through the text at a ridiculous pace.

"Yes," was all she said in reply. "I believe that we should attack as soon as possible. I can't verify when exactly the mages might turn on the hostages, there are too many variables, and so it's better to attack now in hopes that nobody is hurt yet."

"Quite." Carla nodded in agreement with Jessie. "But what do you propose we do?"

At this, a massive grin burst out across Jessie's face, her glossy lips shimmering as she did so. "Well first I need to know your magic types, then I can easily form a plan. What do you say?"

Lucy, Wendy, Juvia and Carla exchanged looks before leaning in close. "What do you have for us?"

* * *

"Ha ha ha!" A man with dark hair and a large sword on his back was wracked with laughter as he looked down at the scene before him. "You people are so pathetic it makes me laugh!" He kicked out at a young man who lay trembling on the ground in front of him. "Who's going to save you? That little girl from earlier was useless with her stupid Archive magic. I've got a legion of swords and mages at my disposal, so I ask again, who's going to help you?!"

The men around him roared with laughter as they too kicked out at the townspeople who lay defeated at their feet. The continuous beating went on for several minutes, until a glowing blue whip came out of nowhere and wrapped around several of the dark mages, picking them up and throwing them brutally against a tree.

"We are you bastard!"

The leader of the group drew his large sword and held it ready. "Who dares to defy Karumi?!"

"Us!" The loud voice came from a busty blonde dressed in blue and black who slid from the shadows of the surrounding trees. She held the end of the whip that had threw several of Karuni's men, grinning in a victorious way at this fact. Two blue-haired girls flanked her, one a tiny girl in pigtails, the other with hair that ended in curls. Finally a small white cat hovered nearby as another girl with brown-blonde hair came from the forest.

"YOU?!" Karumi burst into laughter again. "A BUNCH OF GIRLS?! ONE WHO I'VE ALREADY DEFEATED?! GIVE ME A BREAK! WHAT ARE YU GUYS GOING TO DO?!"

"First of all," Lucy held up her middle finger at the guy, well away that she was acting a lot like her male teammates. "We're going to beat the crap out of you and these men."

"Secondly," Juvia held her arms up as water flowed from them. "We shall take these townspeople back to their homes. Juvia is already irritated from the walk here, do not push Juvia any further."

"Un!" Wendy clenched her fists and glared determinedly at the men surrounding them. "We are Fairy Tail mages and we won't give up so easily!"

"So cool~!" Jessie giggled delightfully as she watched her fellow mages take up battle stances. "So this is the power of a guild?"

Karumi continued to laugh at them his men joining in. "A bunch of girls aren't going to do _anything _to the awesome power of my re-quip!"

"Screw your re-quip!" Lucy pulled the gloves from her belt and tugged them on, drawing strength from their now familiar feel. "I've seen better!"

"Grah!" Now Karumi was mad. "Get those useless bitches men! Especially that stupid Archive mage who must've led them here!"

"Eh?" Jessie looked with wide brown eyes at him. "Damn it. Why me?!"

"Don't worry Jessie." Lucy sent her a confident smile. "We'll protect you." The blonde retracted Fleuve d'étoiles from the unconscious men and flicked it at another bunch of attacking men, causing them to leap back if they didn't wish to be slashed. "Plan a go! C'mon team! Let's show these bastards how to go about it!"

"Yeah!" Juvia and Wendy gathered their magic up and went on the attack, Carla scooping Wendy up in order to attack from the sky.

* * *

**(Juvia vs Kenta)**

"Water Slicer!" Juvia slashed her hand at a bunch of men, not flinching when several ribbons of water forced them back. "Juvia will not let anyone here leave. Juvia thinks all of you need to be punished for your behaviour."

"Oh you can punish me all you want girly," purred a man as purple magic began to gather around him. "Come have a play with old Kenta." The man took a deep breath, seemingly inhaling his own magic aura before breathing out thick clouds of fumes. "Deep Poison Mist!"

Juvia tensed at the apparent poison attack, unsure of what exactly to do. "Wendy would be better than Juvia here, but, Juvia can't give up here!"

Kenta continued to breathe out the cloud of poison, unminding to the fact that several of his fellow men were dropping to the ground, scrabbling at their throats with purple veined hands. 'Come and get it…'

"Water Lock!" Majority of the cloud of smoke became trapped in Juvia's ball of water. "But what does Juvia do with this?..." The water began to turn purple as the water absorbed the highly toxic poison. "Juvia knows!"

The Water mage flung her hands out and separated the corrupted water into two thick streams. "Water Cane!" The water lashed out in thick rod-like structures, smashing several of the approaching men and poisoning them wherever it touched them. "Juvia will not let anyone escape!"

"Damn you bitch!" Kenta growled in his throat before a magic seal appeared on either of his outstretched hands. "Purple snakes!" Long purple ribbons of poison coiled out of his hands and went for Juvia, surrounding her before beginning to try to wrap around her.

"Juvia won't let you!" The corrupted water that Juvia commanded parried the attack before engaging the snake-like poison in battle. "Juvia will defeat you no matter the cost!"

* * *

**(Wendy vs Tsubasa)**

"Higher Carla," Wendy asked her companion who was carrying her. "I want to be able to get a vantage point so I am able to help out as best as I can!"

"Okay Wendy."

The winged cat flapped her wings harder in order to gain more altitude, but found her way blocked by a grinning man with wings of his own.

"Scree! Hello child. I am Tsubasa, and you are my prey."

The man known as Tsubasa tucked in his wings and dive bombed the duo, knocking Wendy from Carla's grip as he did so.

"Wendy!" Carla dived after the girl but was met with the hand of her opponent, spinning out of control from the force of the slap.

"Move kitty cat, this birdy has a date with his prey." Tsubasa dove after the falling Wendy who was struggling to right herself. "Carla?! Where are you?!" Hearing no reply of the cat, Wendy righted herself and drew her magic power up. "I can do this!" She thrust her arms out to the side and drew them down, yelling all the while. "Sky Dragon's Wing Attack!" Twin whirlwinds of air came from her arms, slowing her descent and buffering Tsubasa who had been drawing near.

"Stay still my prey!" Tsubasa twisted out of the way of the majority of Wendy's attack, alighting on the ground after Wendy who had landed with a thump. "Scree! Your death will be swift!"

Wendy squeaked as he rushed her, ducking under his suddenly clawed hands. "Ah! Vernier!" A glow surrounded her and quickly died down, allowing the small girl enhancements in her speed and agility. "Sky Dragon's Roar!"

"Scree?" Tsubasa looked back to see a large tornado of air advancing on him. "This little birdy has her own tricks." He flapped his wings in order to push him out of the way of the attack, narrowly dodging some of the slicing wind. "But you've got to be the biggest bird if you want to survive. Scree!"

"Wendy!" Carla called out to the girl as she dived towards her. "Put your arms up!"

"Uh!" Wendy raised her arms up obligingly and didn't flinch as her partner picked her up. "We can defeat him Carla!"

"Okay!"

"Scree." Tsubasa cocked a shaggy brown head at the figure of the floating girl. "So the little birdy needs the kitty cat in order to fly. Well," his dark wings opened up behind him and stroked down hard, "you will fall in the wrath of my wings!"

Wendy took in a massive gulp of air. "Sky Dragon's…"

Tsubasa drew near to the floating girl and reared his heavily clawed hands back. "Feathered…"

"Roar!"

"Flurry!"

There was an explosion that flattened several men into the ground that were in the blast radius.

* * *

Jessie let out a sigh as majority of the henchmen surrounded her. "Why me? Seriously, why me? I have no clue what I did to deserve this, but, I guess I shall have to fight."

"Fight?" One of the men sniggered as he closed in on her. "What are you going to do girly? You're some nerd who uses _Archive _magic. Everyone knows it's useless!"

"Your mum's useless!" Shot back Jessie as she dropped into a battle position. "And I'll show you what I can do bub." The girl shot forward at unexpected speeds, driving a swinging elbow into the sniggering man's face. "Head shot!"

"Gah!" The man staggered back with a bloody nose as Jessie whirled around and dropped into a low sweeping leg that took out several men. "Don't underestimate me! I know some mad martial arts skills!"

The last bunch of men looked at each other before grinning and advancing on her further. "You're just one girl, how do you hope to defeat all of us?"

"Using my _nerd _mind of course!" One of Jessie's eyes began to glow a gold colour as she accessed the network that Archive magic was connected to. With her magic software, she could analyse the movements of the men and act in a logical and planned way. "Come at me!"

As soon as the first man leapt at her, she twisted around him and launched a back kick that connected with his head. "Twenty-three degree twist, kick three point two seconds later. Drop and roll to avoid backhanded fist that comes four point nine seconds after that."

The girl continued to mutter to herself as she dropped low and rolled back to avoid the backhand that one of the men aimed at her. Her right leg lashed up in a kick that connected soundly with the man's face and launched him into the crowd.

She popped up grinning and stood with her fists ready in a boxing position. "Show me what you've got." She waved one of her hands in a mocking beckoning gesture.

* * *

**(Lucy vs Karumi)**

"Stay still blondie so I can crush you."

Lucy narrowly dodged the large sword that came crashing into the ground, sprawling out as she did so. "Kyah!"

Karumi smirked as he hefted the ridiculously large sword over his shoulder. "You have no fighting skills blondie, the keys on your belt show that you're a Celestial mage, and _everyone _knows that Celestial mages just hide behind their spirits."

_You always need protecting Lucy Heartifilia! Every time we are in a fight, you hide behind your spirits or I have to save you! You need protecting because you're not strong enough to protect yourself!_

Lucy balled her gloved hands together in anger as Natsu's words came back to her. "I'm not weak…"

"Ha ha ha!" Karumi bent over double as he laughed. "Not weak?! Blondie, you the essence of weakness. Your body is soft, I bet my sword will cut you like hot butter." Karumi licked his lips and stalked over to the girl. "I think I'll see just how soft that skin _really _is by slicing you to tiny pieces."

Just as he reached out to grab the blonde, a booted foot connected soundly with his face, and Karumi could hear something cracking as he staggered back.

"You blonde bitch!" He screeched as he wiped the blood from his face. "You broke my fucking nose!"

Lucy didn't answer as she stood up and planted herself solidly. "I told you that I'm not weak, so come at me like you mean it! I want nothing less!"

Karumi let out a roar and dashed towards Lucy, swinging his sword in a beheading stroke. "Just die you blonde bitch!"

Bending back into a backbend, Lucy barely dodged the sword. "Keh." Her breath huffed as she twisted to the side and righted herself in time to flick her whip out. "I'll take that precious sword from you!" Fleuve d'étoiles wrapped around the gleaming blade of the sword and yanked it free of a surprised Karumi's grip. The whip shrunk in length and handed the sword to Lucy, who then threw it as hard as she could into the forest.

"My sword!" Karumi went to go after it, but found his legs tangled in the glowing length of Lucy's whip. "You stupid-!"

"Bitch?" Lucy finished for him as she reeled the struggling man in. "You need to come up with more original insults than that asshole."

As the man got close to Lucy, his hand glowed a golden colour and Lucy had to dodge the mace that swung towards her, intent on crushing her. "What the-!"

"Re-quip mage blondie." Karumi chuckled as he stood up, free of Fleuve d'étoiles's clutches. "Be good to remember that."

"Damn it," Lucy cursed as she shrunk her whip again. "How could I let myself forget such an important point?!"

"Because you're a stupid blonde."

"When are you going to stop insulting my hair?!" Lucy yelled at the man before slipping a gold key from her key ring. "Screw it, I'm going to bring in backup."

"Of course you are." Karumi smirked at her as he hefted the solid wooden mace to a better position in his hands. "You're some stupid blonde who's probably only alive today due to someone else saving you. Am I right?"

_So don't you dare go pointing fingers at me because I'm the only reason you're at this guild. OR EVEN ALIVE!_

"ARGHHH!" Lucy let out a scream of rage as she rushed the man, Taurus's key forgotten. Karumi was taken aback at the girls' sudden attack, expecting her to sniffle or to summon the spirit, not to rush him. That's why he didn't do anything as Lucy jumped, reared her fist back and punched him in his already broken nose.

The echoing scream of pain brought Jessie's attention to the battle as she finished off the last of the men. "I hope that isn't Lucy!" A large man dove at her, but was quickly knocked out due to a stomp to the head. "I'll go help her!"

Jumping up in the air, Jessie executed a perfect butterfly kick to the last man's head. She was already on her way towards Lucy when the man hit the ground with an odd cracking noise.

* * *

**(Juvia vs Kenta)**

"Juvia believes you are finished." The Water mage swung her streams of poisoned water around one more time before launching them at Kenta. "Kenta will drown in his own poison."

"I'm immune to all of my poison!" Boasted Kenta as he spread his arms out arrogantly. "Nothing you throw at me could _possibly _hurt me."

"Kenta seems to forget Juvia is a _Water _mage," was all Juvia said before a ball of purple water surrounded the other mage. "Water Lock: Poison style!"

Kenta let out a burble of bubbles as he accidentally choked on the poisonous water that was currently surrounding him. He tried to summon more poison to burst the bubble, but found he was just polluting the water more, the water going a solid purple due to this.

"Drip, drip, drop." Juvia waited a minute before releasing the Water Lock, Kenta coming sprawling out, choking a bit before falling unconscious. "Juvia is done here." The girl turned away from the defeated mage and picked her way through other poisoned men, intent on getting to the source of the scream from just before.

* * *

**(Wendy vs Tsubasa)**

"Hiyah!" Wendy's Vernier enhanced punches caught Tsuabsa off balance as she danced around the bird-man. "Sky Dragon's Roar!" The man was sent sailing back at the girls roar, scrabbling uselessly with his claws as he tried to slow himself. A sickening crunch came from the downed mage as he connected with a tree, instantly falling unconscious.

"Oh no!" Wendy let out a gasp and began to run after Tsubasa, a long since exhausted Carla trailing tiredly after her. "Wendy! Leave him be, he's the enemy!"

"No Carla." Wendy knelt at Tsubasa'a side, hands already glowing blue as she ran them over his head and body. "It's my fault he's injured, so I must fix it."

"Honestly…" Carla shook her head in fond exasperation. "You're too good for your _own _good."

Wendy didn't respond, too intent on healing her ex-opponent.

Several moments passed before Wendy released her magic and slumped back in a boneless way, exhausted from the amount of magic she had used today. "Oh Carla, I hope he's alright."

"Worry about yourself Wendy." Carla helped the small girl to her feet. "Are you okay? You used a lot of magic in that battle."

"I'm fine Carla, we should go see how the others are going. I heard a scream from over there."

"Okay."

* * *

**(Lucy and Jessie vs Karumi)**

"Lucy!"

The blonde didn't spare a glance to the source of the voice as she dodged the heavy blow of a metal staff. "What is it Jessie?! I'm kind of busy here!"

Karumi lifted his staff up, intent on crushing the annoying blonde, but found himself occupied trying to stop himself connecting into any trees as Jessie's flying kick sent him…well, flying.

"Do you know any casting magic Lucy?" Jessie panted as she skidded to a stop next to the equally tired blonde. I know you're a holder type, but if you have any casting spells, my Archive can amplify them."

Lucy kept a wary eye on the figure of Karumi that was struggling upright. "I learnt one spell, Urano Metria, but Hibiki, another Archive magic user, basically downloaded it into my head and I can't remember it!"

"Oh that's awesome!" Jessie cheered before bringing up her Archive screen once more, fingers flying over it as she activated certain software. "My Archive can bring up any memories of magic, like accessing a save file you never knew you had, and can make you use it like you've known it all your life! Do you have enough magic for it though?"

"More than enough, I haven't used any yet!" Grinned Lucy as she clenched her hands in excitement. "Hit me up Jessie!"

"Roger that!"

Karumi watched cautiously as the annoying Archive girl did something to the bitchy blonde girl, blondies' eyes lighting up a gold colour as the Archive girl tapped a button. "What on Earthland are they doing?..." He re-quipped the spear he held for another large sword, wincing slightly as he felt the pull on his magic. "I'll finish them now before they can do anything!" He let another roar and charged at the two girls, mindful of the painful feeling in his nose. "This is revenge you blonde bitch!"

Suddenly, the ground disappeared around him and he stumbled to a halt. There was only blackness around him, but that quickly stopped when stars began to glow ominously around him. "What…what the hell is this?!"

Karumi spun around, intent on finding a way out, but only found the blonde bitch staring at him with glowing golden eyes, the rest of her body also glowing softly. She opened her mouth and began to chant, her voice coming out in an echo.

_Survey the Heavens, Open the Heavens...  
All the stars, far and wide...  
Show me thy appearance...  
With such shine.  
Oh Tetrabiblos...  
I am the ruler of the stars...  
Aspect become complete...  
Open thy malevolent gate.  
Oh 88 Stars of the heaven...  
Shine!  
Urano Metria!_

Glowing orbs of light that had gathered around Lucy shot towards their target, burning Karumi with their holy magic.

"AARRRGGHHHHH!" Karumi screamed out as eighty-eight stars smashed against him, relentless in their quest to defeat him. The last attack hit him, earning one last scream of pain before the re-quip mage dropped to the ground, unconscious.

"Yes!" Lucy yelled out in victory as she high-fived Jessie. "Who's the best now you son of a bitch?!"

"Girls!" Jessie spun around in victorious circles, giddy with the feeling of winning. "Girls are the greatest in the world! Aside from cute kitties…" She finished softly.

Lucy laughed at her companions answer before she was tackled in a hug from behind.

"Lucy-san won!"

The victorious blonde twisted around, still laughing, in order to hug an excited Juvia. "Yes I did! And guessing from the fact you're over here, I'll say you've won as well."

Juvia's dark blue eyes blinked up at her before she blushed. "Lucy-san has such faith in Juvia…Juvia doesn't know what to say…"

Lucy was going to answer her friend when an excited cheer distracted her.

"Lucy! Juvia-san! Jessie-san!" Wendy jogged up to them, a bit battered but overall victorious. "Did you guys win your battles as well?"

"Of course we did!" Jessie let out another cheer before scooping up the little girl, putting her on her shoulders and running around some more. "Girls are the best!"

Wendy squealed at the sudden pick up, but it quickly turned to laughter as she got a rare shoulder ride on an elder person.

"I'm glad that's over." Carla straightened her skirt before looking around at the devastated males surrounding the entire area. "What do we do with these men?"

Lucy shrugged in answer as she began to walk over to Jessie and Wendy. "I don't know, but I guess we'll just get the nearest royal guards to pick these guys up and we'll collect our reward." She sighed happily, Carla raising a delicate eyebrow at the action. "I finally get paid the full amount! No more jewels going missing due to damage! I can pay off the rent on my house, even with the divided jewels!"

The blonde let out a giddy laugh before grabbing Juvia's hand as she ran by. "C'mon Juvia! Let's catch up to Jessie and Wendy!"

"O-okay Lucy-san."

"Just Lucy!"

* * *

Jessie pouted as she waved at the retreating backs of her new friends. "Bye guys! It was so nice to meet you and to do this job beside you!"

"Bye Jessie-san!" Wendy waved at girl before skipping on the road out of town beside a floating Carla.

"Juvia wishes Jessie-san goodbye." Juvia gave an odd bow before following after Wendy.

Lucy looked back at her companions before dashing forward and grabbing Jessie's hands excitedly. "Thank you so much for today Jessie! It was so cool of you to let me remember Urano Metria. Now I just need to train some more in order to learn it!"

Jessie blushed bashfully at the blonde's gratitude. "I-it was nothing Lucy. Just all in a day's work for the amazing Jessie!"

The brown-blonde-haired girl started as she was suddenly enveloped in a hug from the blonde. "If you ever need a place to stay, just come to Magnolia, I'll be more than happy to help you out there. And you know," Lucy pulled out of the hug to stare seriously into Jessie's brown eyes, "Fairy Tail welcomes anyone and everyone into the guild. Just remember that if you ever want to have a place to stay. Okay?"

Jessie nodded – what was she to say to such a generous offer? – and waved after the blonde as she ran after her friends, all heading for their home.

"A guild huh?" Jessie murmured as she stared after the disappearing blonde hair. "Sounds like fun."

* * *

**SKFKWEKLCNJ!**

**What was that?! An OC, a fight scene and Urano Metria?!**

**Yes well, don't expect two out of those three to be happening often. Can you guess which ones won't happen often? I'll give you a hint; OC's and Urano Metria. They were a one off thing so that we can have Lucy developing as a character. 'Cause you know, why the fuck couldn't Lucy do Urano Metria **_**until **_**the GMG?! I mean, it could've come in **_**a lot**_** handier when her face was getting mashed in by Kain (dude on Tenrōjima) or whenever the fuck she got captured.**

**Like really? You disappoint me here Hiro Mashima.**

**The way I set out the fight scenes was different, but I hope it made things clearer for people. I found fight scenes to be occasionally disorientating when they switch quickly and I don't know who exactly is fighting. It's kind of like; 'Wait? Who's fighting who? I know Juvia is fighting some poison dude, but who's Kenta? Is he the poison dude? Who the hell is Tsubasa? Wing? Who is Wing and why's he fighting Wendy? I tought Juvia was fighting some dude called Kenta. Oh, that OC chick is fighting some henchmen...Okay, Lucy's fighting some dude with a sword. Not wait, it's a mace...WHAT IS HAPPENING?!'**

**Anyways, thanks for y'all reviews! I'll see you soon!**

**SunMoon.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey y'all, how you guys going? I'm going great you know, from all of your wonderful reviews! Wow, 14 reviews for only 2 chapters, I love you guys!**

**Here's a chapter to express my love.**

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**Disclaimer: **_**Access denied. Password incorrect. You are unable to access**__**Fairy Tail ownership**__. YEAH…WELL…FUCK YOU TO! Stupid firewalls…passwords…I JUST WANT NALU! GIVE IT TO ME!_

**Warning: **_Eh, language_

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**3****rd**** Person P.O.V.**

"Bye Lucy!" Wendy waved to the blonde-haired girl as she ran off to Fairy Hills with Carla. "Thank you so much for that job!"

Lucy stood up on her tiptoes and waved back enthusiastically. "Bye Wendy and Carla! We should do a job together another time!" The Celestial mage could vaguely see the blue-haired girl nodding in agreement before disappearing over the crest of a hill, accompanied by Carla.

"Wow that was a long day." Lucy stretched her arms above her head and sighed blissfully when her back popped. "But it's not over yet. I still have to go back to the guild and report the success to Mira." Lucy swung her arms to get them feeling fresh and set off towards the guild.

After a short walk that helped to relax Lucy, she made her way into the opened doors of her precious guild.

"Lu-chan!"

Lucy whirled at the sound of her name and came face to face with an excited, petite blue-haired girl. "Levy-chan!"

Levy gave the girl a fierce hug before stepping back to look at her good friend. "It feels like I haven't seen you in ages Lu-chan! What have you been up to? Writing more chapters in your book hopefully." The girl gazed up at Lucy with hopeful eyes.

"Ah," Lucy scratched her cheek sheepishly. "Sorry Levy-chan, I've been so busy with jobs recently that I've had no time to write…I'm so sorry."

Levy looked slightly put out by the reply, but quickly flashed her friend a smile. "Ah well Lu-chan, I guess now that you'll have enough time to write your story. You have heaps of free time after those jobs. Right?"

Lucy opened her mouth to agree with Levy, but found herself hesitating, remembering what she promised herself. "No…Not really Levy-chan. I promised that I would train more, I don't have time to write stories if I want to get stronger." She grasped a disappointed Levy's' arm in an apologetic way. "I'm sorry Levy-chan."

Waving her arms around, Levy apologised right back to the Celestial mage. "No, it's my fault Lu-chan! I shouldn't be so demanding of you! You go get stronger! But, if it makes you feel any better, I think you're plenty strong right now." Levy hugged Lucy around the waist before stepping back and giving her a wave. "I'll see you later Lu-chan! I have some jobs to do of my own!"

"Bye Levy-chan!" Lucy watched with a smile as Levy skipped over to join her two teammates Jet and Droy, before they headed out of the guild. 'It's nice to know that someone believes in my capabilities…'

The smile didn't leave her face as Lucy wandered off to the bar to give Mirajane her report on finishing the job successfully. Mirajane would be so surprised. And hopefully proud.

"Hello Mira." Lucy slid onto her usual stool and leant forward on the table, cupping her face with – what she noted to be – gloved hands.

Mirajane gave a start at the sudden voice before whirling around to face Lucy. "Lucy?" Her eyes widened and she dropped the rag she had been wiping the bench top down with in order to grab the blondes' hands. "Lucy! Oh I've been worried sick! You're still bleeding! Oh my, we have to get this fixed right away!"

Lucy's' laugh made the white-haired girl pause her anxiety attack in order to reprimand her. "This is no time to laugh young girl. You have a serious injury that I only found out from _Gajeel _of all people! Why didn't you tell me?" Mirajane's blue eyes shone slightly as she leaned towards Lucy with a wounded look.

"Well I expected at least one Dragon Slayer to notice I had blood on me," Lucy nonchalantly replied as she propped herself up on one elbow. "Though I'm also surprised that it was Gajeel."

"There better not be an insult in that bunny girl!"

"Sorry Gajeel!" Lucy waved her free arm in the air without turning from Mirajane. "No offence meant to be given!"

"Damn straight there shouldn't be!"

"Lucy," warned Mirajane. "Stop avoiding the question." She crossed her arms under her bust and looked down at the girl with what she hoped to be a somewhat scary expression. "Tell me why and how you got blood on yourself. Natsu said you two have been having a fight."

Lucy wilted at the last comment. "U-uh, yeah. I guess you could call it a fight. We had an argument at my place and I got really angry at him by the end, so I started throwing stuff at him to get him out of my apartment faster. When he finally left, I guess I got so angry that I shattered the lamp I held in my hand." Lucy waved her hands reassuringly at Mirajane's horrified expression. "There were no metal bits in my skin or anything and it's already healed Mira! You don't need to worry. Although…" The blonde tapped her lip with her free hand thoughtfully. "I do need a new lamp now…"

Her mental tirade on what lamp she should get was interrupted by a short gasp from Mirajane. "Lucy! How on Earthland do you manage to break a _metal _lamp?!"

The blonde paused before shrugging. "I'm not sure Mira. But that doesn't matter right now." The girl stood up from her chair and did a victorious pose. "We have completed the job and I got paid the full amount of money! How cool is that? It's the first time that's ever happened!"

Soothed slightly by Lucy's happy attitude, Mirajane giggled at the girls' enthusiasm and obligingly pulled out the job book which they wrote the jobs and whether they were completed or not. "So you, Juvia and Wendy split the reward between the three of you?"

"Not really." Lucy plopped back down onto the stool and resumed her earlier pose of propping herself up with one arm. "We also split it with another freelance mage called Jessie. She's really cool and helped us out, so we first split the money with her and then split our ways." The girl laughed at her own joke before signing her name under the job she completed. "Well Mira, I'm going to head home for a nice bath and a snack, beating up dark mages works up a girls hunger." Lucy winked at the mage before getting up and heading off to the exit of the guild.

"Bye Lucy." Mirajane waved back to the girl as she left, but paused when the girl did. "Lucy?"

"Shit!" Lucy sprinted back the way she came and dove over the bench top of the bar. "I was never here Mira, okay? I haven't come back from my job yet!"

"What on Earthland…" Mirajane looked down at the girl that was squeezing herself into a gap in the supplies stacked under the bar at her feet before looking back up at the guild entrance. "Oh…"

A familiar group of hair colours were making their way towards her. Pink, navy and red in respective order.

Mirajane put a smile on her face as Team Natsu approached the bar after returning from the job they had taken earlier on in the day. The one where they had to deal with a rogue Vulcan terrifying a nearby town if she remembered correctly.

"Hello Natsu, Gray and Erza." Mirajane beamed at them as Lucy clutched at her feet when she was in danger of falling out of her hiding spot. "Was your job okay?"

"Quite." Erza nodded to the barmaid before sitting down at a stool, Gray and Natsu sitting either side of her. "We only destroyed two houses this time."

"And whose fault was that…?" Muttered Natsu from her left.

Erza's fist shot out and nailed a swift – yet powerful – punch on the side of his head, effectively knocking him out of his stool.

Mirajane put on a giggle and covered her mouth. "Master will not be pleased about this."

Gray went to answer Mirajane, but found himself rudely interrupted by a suddenly worked up Natsu.

"Has Lucy come back yet?!"

Mirajane could feel Lucy's hands tighten around her ankles in an almost painful matter. The barmaid suddenly didn't have as many doubts as to whether or not the seemingly weak girl could shatter a lamp. "Not yet Natsu. I'm sure she'll turn up sooner or later. She'll be fine though, she has Juvia, Wendy and Carla with her. They'll keep one another safe."

Natsu clenched the bench top with his hands before slumping back into his stool. "I just really want to apologise to her, you know?"

Lucy's hands doubled the strength in their grip and it took all of Mirajane's willpower not to wince.

"Well flamebrain," Gray said in a dangerous tone. "_Maybe _if you weren't so much of an _ass, _Lucy would've been on that job with us."

Natsu instantly pushed his stool up and leant across Erza to growl into Gray's face. "Do you wanna say that again you wet puddle?!"

Gray's stool toppled to the ground as he too stood up. "I'll say it however many times it takes to get through your thick skull! You said total ass comments to Lucy and I bet she's not too happy with you right now. I swear to god Natsu," Gray leaned in closer with a serious expression on his face. "If she hates us too, you're a dead man."

A low rumbling noise came from the back of Natsu's throat, startling Gray as he had never heard his Nakama make such a noise.

"Enough." Erza's powerful voice halted the two males. "Do you really think arguing like a bunch of little boys is going to help this situation in any way? Both of you shut up and go sort out your differences elsewhere." Erza's sharp brown eyes fixed onto Natsu's onyx ones. "But Natsu, if you have hurt Lucy in _any way _I _**will **__punish you as I see fit._"

Gray nodded his assent on the topic and turned to leave. "Just find Lucy soon and apologise to her you dolt. She's precious to more people than just you, do you realise this?" His dark eyes bore into Natsu's before he left the guild, picking up his discarded shirt as he went.

"I agree with Gray on this matter." Erza stood up as well and nodded at Mirajane as she did so. "Think over what you have done Natsu, think over it well." The Re-quip mages' red hair swung as she turned and followed her teammate out of the guild.

Natsu stared after them for a moment before slumping down on his stool and slamming his head onto the bench top, startling a wound up Lucy who was right under him.

"Ow," Mirajane hissed quietly as Lucy's hands tightened again from her surprise.

Natsu lifted his head to stare at Mirajane with something akin to suspicion. "Are you alright Mira?"

The barmaid put on a smile and nodded vigorously. "I'm fine Natsu. Just…stubbed my toe against the bar." The girl broke off into nervous laughter that left Natsu only more suspicious.

"Mirajane." Natsu's voice took on a growling quality. "What are you hiding? You're a terrible liar you know that?"

Instantly going on the defensive, Mirajane answered much too quickly. "Like you can talk Natsu! Everyone can tell when you're lying!"

Now the Dragon Slayer was _really _suspicious. He took a whiff of the air around him, trying to sense if the girl was really lying on not. What he got was a definite lie and the scent of vanilla.

His eyes widened and he glared at Mirajane. "Lucy has been here!" He smelt the air again and stood up. "And she's still here!"

Underneath the bar, Lucy was strangely reminded of the ending of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Was she Goldilocks? Tearing away from the scene as quickly as she could?

A creaking noise echoed from above her and Lucy let go of Mirajane's feet in order to squish herself even more between two wine crates. Holding her breath and hoping that Natsu wouldn't find her, Lucy found her hopes dashed when a nauseatingly familiar shade of pink hung in front of her.

Natsu stared at her with wide onyx eyes as his scarf dangled past his waving pink hair. "Lucy…"

"I'm sorry Lucy." The blonde could hear Mirajane's apologetic voice echoed from to her left as the barmaid moved away from what was almost guaranteed to be a big scene. "He got past me."

"Luce…" Natsu's hand inched towards her, but almost instantly went back to Natsu's side when Lucys' teeth sunk into it. "Ouch Lucy! What the heck was that for?!"

Lucy didn't reply, only pushing herself further into the corner of her hidey-hole. Why couldn't she go intangible or something?! Celestial magic was useless in a situation like this!

Natsu's upside-down face righted itself as he flipped over the bench top and crouched in front of the hidey-hole Lucy had managed to squeeze into. "C'mon Lucy, I just want to say that I'm sorry. What more can I do?!"

'Either than letting me be alone at this moment…?' The thought crossed Lucy's mind before the blonde just shook her head and tucked the appendage under her arm, she didn't want to see his face.

"Oh, so now I get the silent treatment?!"

Natsu now sounded angry. As angry as he had been on the night in her apartment. When he had told Lucy that she was useless.

"That's real great Lucy! Real _mature!_ You're always telling me to act my age, so why don't you act like it for once?"

Lucy bit her lip as she struggled to stay silent. She could feel Natsu's gaze boring into her and anger beginning to make itself known in her gut, but she managed to ignore both with a Herculean effort.

"Just leave her alone Natsu." Mirajane's voice came from Lucy's right now. "Don't you know that she just wants to be alone to sort this out?"

Natsu didn't reply to Mirajane with words, instead, a low growl escaped his throat again.

Lucy was flinching slightly from his anger filled words and especially from the growling sound that frightened her, but she absolutely freaked when Natsu's hand touched her on the leg.

Almost out of instinct, Lucy's foot lashed out in a solid kick that landed straight into Natsu's face, stunning him momentarily. Lucy took advantage of this and darted out from her hidey-hole, vaulting over the bench top and beginning to run away from the confrontation that she didn't want.

"LUCY!"

The strangely silent guild rung with Natsu's shout and Lucy just doubled her pace in answer, making it out of the doors before Natsu could even stand up.

She made to go to her apartment, but decided against that, Natsu was probably thinking she would go there. So where should she go?

The large building atop of one of Magnolias' many hills caught her attention as she ran and she took a hard left down a street to run towards it. Fairy Hills was where most of the females from the guild lived and they had a no-male policy there. Surely Erza or Wendy would let her stay the night.

Her breath was rasping in her chest when she finally made it to the top, her legs not faltering their almost sprinting pace. A brief thought of why Natsu didn't just sniff her out crossed her mind, but the thought deserted her when she tripped over.

Arms flailing, Lucy hit the ground and just lay there, panting and sniffling through her exhaustion and misery.

"Lucy? What the fuck are you doing here? And looked so rough too. Is it not your day?"

The blonde lifted her head to see an arm being offered to her. She grabbed it and let herself be pulled upright, brushing down her outfit when she was steady. Looking at her saviours face, she offered a watery smile. "Hello Cana, I could ask you the same question. I know you have your own place, so why are you up here?"

Cana quirked an eyebrow at the blonde who was wiping her tears away. "Sweetheart, that doesn't matter until we get you fixed up. C'mon up, I was going to grab some more booze, but that can wait. I wanna know why you are turning up on Fairy Hills' steps crying your eyes out and running like a ghost is after you."

A weak laugh escaped Lucy's lips at Cana's twist on her situation. "Sure Cana, do you have your own room?"

"Nah." The alcoholic grabbed Lucy's wrist and began to pull her through the lobby and up a flight of stairs. "I'm actually crashing with good ol' Erza right now. My plumbing broke and flooded my whole house. Erza was kind enough to give me accommodation while it's being fixed." Pulling a key from her long black pants, Cana opened a door and pushed it open. "Now that I've told my story, you can tell me yours."

Lucy was unable to reply at the moment, her mouth was currently occupied with gawking at scene she was met with. "Is this Erza's place?"

"Hm?" Cana turned to face the stationary girl before following her gaze to the contents of the room. "Oh yeah," a smirk appeared on her face when she looked at the nearby by bunny outfit. "This is Erza's apartment. She's demolished two rooms in order to have enough room for all of her…Re-quip outfits. Cool isn't it?"

Lucy could only gape some more at the scene. "D-does she have an actual apartment? You know, to sleep and stuff?"

Taking out an emergency flask from her blue side bag, Cana popped it open and sculled some before answering. "She does, it's over here. Come and tell me your story Lucy, I'm sure it'll be interesting." The brunette didn't wait for Lucy's answer before wandering over to a small area down the lengthy room that contained a kitchen, bathroom, couches and a bed.

Cana quickly dibbed the bed by sprawling out across its length, sipping at the alcohol in her hand. Lucy followed at a more cautious pace, taking a seat on one of the nearby couches.

"So Lucy-chan," Cana sat upright and quirked an eyebrow at the girl. "Are you gonna tell me what happened or am I going to have to torture it out of you?"

A small smile crossed Lucy's face and she relaxed at Cana's casual attitude. Taking a deep breath, she launched into an explanation of how she and Natsu had been fighting, and that she wanted to become stronger to show him, and herself, that she wasn't a weak little princess. The explanation drew to a close when Lucy told Cana of the incident at the guild just before that made her run away.

"Okay, first of all," Cana took another sip of her alcohol with a contemplative look on her face. "You probably shouldn't have run. If you want to be stronger and _show _Natsu that you are, then you've got to show him who's boss! So next time you see him, act like he's not there, or get a better attitude about it. Maybe go for the whole, 'I'm fearless' look. Hmm…doesn't work so well on you…maybe…"

"I know that I probably shouldn't have run," Lucy fidgeted on the couch. "But do you reckon someone will let me stay here for a while? Just one night I mean! Until I know Natsu won't be jumping through my window and stuff just to-"

"Oh ho!" Cana leant forward with a perverse look on her face. "Mister Natsu, sneaking in your windows at night! This is just too good." Her eyebrows wiggled at a blushing Lucy. "So do you do the dirty deed at night when he comes or what?"

"Oh my god Cana!" Lucy jumped up and waved her hands frantically in denial. "It's nothing like that at all! He just climbs through my window and I occasionally wake up to find him in my bed sleeping."

"Nothing like that?!" Cana doubled over with laughter. "It sounds exactly like that! Little Lucy-chan all grown up and finding her own man! Tell me," the brunettes' perverse grin didn't falter once. "Is he a hot little dragon in bed? I bet that-"

"La la la la!" Lucy shouted and covered her ears with her hands. "I can't hear you! Shut up, shut up, shut up!"

"And now Lucy-chan's swearing," Cana commented to the air. "What has the world come to?"

Lucy looked at the girl warily before uncovering her ears. "Are you going to stop now Cana?"

"Well," Cana tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I _was _going to ask you if his inhumane stamina was good in be-"

"AHH!" Lucy let out a scream and tackled Cana onto the bed. "Shut up Cana!"

The brunette just laughed and began to wrestle the blonde. "Natsu and Lucy sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love! Second comes marriage! Third comes the baby Dragon Slayer in a fire-proof carriage!"

Lucy moaned and slapped Cana's arm as she sat up. "You're so mean!"

Cana just continued to laugh as she sat up. "Well your wrestling's pretty weak; you didn't even knock my booze once!" The brunette tilted her head back and drank some of her alcohol in order to prove her point.

Suddenly, the bottle was flung out of her hands and smashed on the floorboards when Lucy defiantly slapped the hand holding it. "Now we're even."

There was a moment of silence as Cana stared disbelievingly at the smashed bottle of her precious nectar that could've lasted her roughly another hour. "Did you…What the…" She looked up at Lucy before screaming and tackling her back into the bed. "Revenge will be mine!"

"No Cana no!" Any further protests by Lucy were drowned out the scuffle that followed. The scuffle contained several traces of tickling, laughter and screaming that may cause the participants and any spectators some symptoms such as; more laughter, phantom tickle pain and painful ringing located in the Inner ear. It's advisable that you see a doctor if the symptoms continue.

The two fighting girls were so loud that they didn't hear the door be unlocked or opened by the owner of the place they were fighting in.

Erza took in the strange scene of what looked to be two girls fighting on her bed. After trying to make out who they were for a moment, Erza finally realised it was Cana and Lucy when Lucy pinned Cana down in order to tickle her.

"Say uncle!" Lucy's fingers wiggled unsympathetically against a laughing Cana's side.

"N-never!" Cana managed to gasp between laughs.

"You're going to say it sooner or later!" Lucy made a move to begin more vigorous tickling, but found herself suddenly picked up and crushed against a metal wall. "Gah!"

"Lucy!" Erza hugged the blonde to her breastplate in a solemn hug. "You can punish me in any way that you see fit! Natsu should've never said such a thing and I hold myself responsible as I was the one who educated him when he was younger." Erza placed the blonde on the ground before standing back and scrunching her face up. "You may punch me in the face Lucy, I deserve it."

At first, Lucy was flustered because she had seemingly just been picked up and hugged by a stranger – and for one scary moment she had thought it was Natsu. But when her assailant began to speak, she relaxed at the deep and familiar female tones. When Erza placed her back at the ground and asked Lucy to punch her, she instantly began to protest against such an action.

"No Erza! I would never punch you!" Lucy grimaced at the thought of such a thing. "It's not your fault at all! It's just me and Natsu having a fight, okay?"

Erza opened one brown eye and stared down at Lucy, "but I insist that you punish me for my actions of not helping you!"

'She's starting to sound like Virgo…' An image of Lucy's wayward spirit came into mind, asking about punishment, but she quickly banished the thought. "I'm not doing it and that's final Erza!" She turned her head away and defiantly crossed her arms to emphasise her point.

A loud crashing noise sounded from behind her and Lucy turned to see Erza shakily giving her a thumbs up as she held her stomach before she collapsed to the ground unconscious. "Honestly…" Lucy shook her head in fond exasperation. "All of my friends are so weird."

"You better not be counting me in that" Cana said from her place on the bed. "'Cause I'm really quite normal."

"Says the alcoholic," retorted Lucy as she began to struggle to lift Erza up onto her couch. "Erza weighs so much with this stupid armour!"

"Hey!" Came an indignant reply. "This is coming from the chick with the knack of her clothes mysteriously going missing, almost as much as Gray."

Lucy pouted as Cana brought up the several instances where her clothes were torn to shreds, stolen by Natsu, or changed by some sort of fun machine in Edolas. "Shut up Cana." She finally hefted Erza onto the couch and stood back, panting slightly. "That would've gone so much easier if Erza didn't wear all that armour."

"Maybe your little girl arms can't take the strain," snickered Cana.

"Aw shut up you," Lucy replied playfully as she sat down next to Cana. "What do you want to do while we wait for Erza to wake up?"

Cana shrugged before pulling some cards from her blue bag. "Go Fish?"

Lucy looked at her in confusion. "I thought your cards were reading cards? Like you know, mystical cards that should be respected."

The brunette shrugged in answer again. "I also have regular cards."

Lucy couldn't really find a problem with that and agreed. Soon the cards were dealt and they began to play.

"Do you have any sevens?"

"Go Fish."

A low groan brought the two card playing girls – they were now playing Gin Rummy – to a slowly awakening Erza.

"My dear Erza." Cana grinned down at the now open brown eyes of Erza. "How was your nap? It lasted long enough that you could almost count it as a beauty sleep. Not that you need it…"

The red head blinked as she sat up, "I beg your pardon, I shouldn't have knocked myself unconscious, I have left you without a host and for that, I'm truly sorry."

"Calm down Erza," laughed Lucy. "You don't need to stress out so much."

"Lucy!" Erza quickly stood up and grasped Lucy's hands with her own gauntleted pair. "I apologise for Natsu's behaviour! It is repuls-"

"Erza." Lucy patted the girl on the shoulder and shoved Cana over so that the older girl could sit down on the bed. "You don't need to apologise for that – as Gray eloquently put it – dolt. He was just angry at me and I was angry at him…I take full responsibility as I started the fight."

"Oooh~" Cana leant in close to the blonde. "What 'cha say to him to get him angry? You didn't tell me the stuff you said in your explanation."

"Yes Lucy," Erza crossed her arms expectantly. "Natsu told Gray and I that you were fighting, but I am curious as to what you were fighting about."

"They were having a lovers' spat~" Sung Cana.

Lucy shoved the girl again as her face turned red. "S-shut up!" She calmed slightly and turned to Erza to answer her question. "I may have…told Natsu that I didn't need him saving me all the time. I accused him of thinking I was weak and that I wasn't some princess that needed him to take the hits for me…" The blush was back on her face by the end out of sheer embarrassment at what she had said.

"And how did Natsu reply?" Erza asked.

"Um…" Lucy began to fidget again. "He may have said…_thatIalwaysneededprotectingandthatIwouldbedeadwithouthim!_"

"He said _**WHAT**_!" Erza stood up angrily. "Did he _seriously _say that you would be dead without him?!"

"Woah," Cana shook her head disapprovingly. "Not a good way to work your way into a woman's heart by saying that she could've died if you weren't holding her hand. Smooth move Natsu. Smooth move…"

"I shall avenge you Lucy!" A glow surrounded Erza's hands and disappeared to show a long sword grasped in her right hand. "I shall smite him where he stands!"

"Are we back in the olden times…?" Cana looked around for any carts or horses before deciding that Erza was just mad. Well, actually, this was no madder than usual for the Re-quip mage.

"No Erza!" Lucy grabbed the girls' arms and tugged her back down to sit, but not without some resistance. "I was just wondering…maybe someone here could let me stay a while. Just until Natsu and I cool down a bit. He'll just follow me back to my place, but here it's a no-male rule, so he won't be allowed in."

The sword disappeared from Erza's hands and she nodded in agreement. "That is quite alright Lucy. I agree that it is a sound plan and I am more than happy to let you stay here."

"Oi oi!" Cana grabbed Erza's arm. "What about me?! There's only one futon and it's _mine_."

"You shall stay here Cana, Lucy and I shall just share my bed." Erza looked across to Lucy for agreement. "We have done it many times, have we not?"

Supressing the shiver that wanted to work its way up her spine at Erza's scary look, Lucy had to nod. It wasn't because Erza was being scary – though Lucy wasn't saying that she wasn't! – But it was logical. "Erza and I can share Cana, we've done it several times like Erza said."

Memories of Erza's adventures of breaking into her apartment and sleeping in her bed with her came unbidden into her mind, but Lucy shrugged them off. Although it could be irritating sometimes that people broke into her apartment, Lucy had to confess that when Erza stayed, it was quite nice. The red head would also be so anxious and shy about finding out what girls' did at sleepovers, and Lucy would gladly do the girls hair or nails. It was one of the rare times that Lucy felt like she was the older sister, rather than Erza always being the confident and older girl.

"Okay," Cana looked at them suspiciously, "if you're alright with that."

A jaw-breaking yawn decided to escape Lucy's lips conveniently at that moment and Erza looked at her with alarm. "We must get you some food and then get you to bed! I've heard that fighting can be stressful for the body…!" The girl stood up and began to rummage through her cupboards in order to find food.

"Let me do that Erza." Lucy stood up and took some ingredients from Erza's arms. "I'll do this in payment for letting me stay here."

"But…" Erza looked at her in bafflement.

"Just let her Erza." Cana stretched out on the bed and put her arms behind her head comfortably. "If you've tasted Lucy's food, you wouldn't be disagreeing."

Said blondes' face lit up as she busied herself with preparing the food.

"You're right there Cana." Erza went and sat down on her couch with a sense of regal grace. "I have tasted Lucy's food and have found it rather good."

Lucy rolled her eyes at Erza's comment. The girl hadn't just tasted Lucy's cooking before, Lucy often found herself cooking for her teammates when they broke into her apartment. She loved her teammates, really, but they could barely cook a meal that passed as a meal. Natsu just lit something on fire and ate it. Gray just froze food solid. And Erza was more often eating sweets than cooking real food, but when she did, something usually caught fire. And it wasn't because of Natsu.

* * *

"I'm cool with this set up." Commented Cana as Lucy finished making the food and placed it down on Erza's dinner table. "Three meals a day for free _and _a great place to sleep. Awesome."

Lucy smiled at the brunettes comments. Why wasn't she better friends with Cana? Or heck, anybody else in her guild? It was like it was only Team Natsu and no one else. But Lucy had made a promise to herself, and damn straight she was going to fulfil it!

"So Cana," Lucy tapped her fork on her plate. "What do you do either than drinking?"

Cana smirked before wrapping her arms behind her neck. "Well Lucy-chan…"

* * *

By the time Lucy crawled into Erza's bed alongside the red head, her face was flushed from embarrassment, mortification and laughter. Also, maybe some of the booze that Cana had seemingly pulled from nowhere might have something to do with it.

Snuggling into a soft pillow, Lucy began to relax and drift off to sleep. Tonight had been great with Erza and Cana. Both of the girls had some funny stories to tell and some great ones from when they were younger. Cana had managed to produce a couple of pictures of some of the guild members when they were younger and that prompted Erza to bring out a scrapbook filled with photos of her time at the guild. The book had guaranteed laughs from all of the girls and Lucy had enjoyed looking at the adorable – and incredibly younger – pictures of her Nakama.

Her personal favourite had to be of the picture of a younger Cana trying to handle a keg. The girl had nearly been crushed under the weight of the mammoth barrel.

Erza's preferred one was pretty funny as well though. It showed her basically drowning a young Natsu in order to clean him as they bathed, Gray trying to creep away while she wasn't looking.

The blondes' eyes fluttered once before she succumbed to closing her eyes fully. A brief though of what her ex-partner was doing crossed her mind, but was drowned out by the fuzziness that came with the nearness of sleep. A smile adorned her face as she fell asleep, next to her good friend and near another hopefully good friend.

* * *

The moon shone down mockingly onto the blue ribbon that was held in scarred hands.

Natsu twisted the flimsy thing around his fingers as he perched on Lucy's bed. He stared out across Magnolia as he waited for his best friend to return. But somehow, he knew that she just wasn't going to return that night. Or even the next night…

A sigh escaped the Dragon Slayers' lips as he continued to twist one of Lucy's favourite ribbons around. She hadn't been wearing it recently, she had taken to wearing those gloves that reeked of her own blood. Natsu didn't understand why his favourite blonde was changing, but he wasn't sure if he liked it or not.

Tugging on the ribbon in his distress, Natsu froze when a ripping sound echoed around the empty room. Looking down to see a shredded ribbon in his hands, Natsu couldn't help but let a low sound escape his throat.

"I always destroy everything I touch…" Natsu held the ribbon tighter in his hands in his anger. "Why do I…?" Flames licked at his fingers and he quickly dropped the ribbon in surprise as it caught fire.

The scraps of flaming blue cloth got caught in the wind and began to float out of Lucy's window and into the starry night that Lucy loved so much. Natsu's eyes followed the small flames away from the window, not faltering until they fizzled out.

The boy dropped his head and tugged his scarf to cover the lower part of his face. He continued to sit cross-legged on Lucy's bed long into the night, not moving a muscle the whole while. Only one thought beat a taboo against his brain the entire night.

_What if I've destroyed mine and Lucy's friendship? What if it's gone up in smoke like everything I touch?_

* * *

**Ugh, so filler and melodramatic. Not one of my better chapters really, but I hope the characters were at least not too OOC. 'Cause that is one thing I rather dislike. Natsu **_**is **_**seeming a little more mature right now, but that's only because he's fighting with his favourite blonde. He's also being an angsty teenager, what is the world coming to?!**

**Anyway, ciao my friends and I hope to see you soon.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Howdy y'all, I've had a few positive comments about this story, so now I feel bad to tell you that…**

**Lol, you guys all thought that I was going to abandon this! Nah, I'm just about to start school again, so my updates won't be so awesomely frequent anymore. So just chill if I haven't updated in a week or two, I'm just doing school crap. Eww…**

**So let's begin!**

* * *

**Disclaimer: **_Na na na na na na na na…Don't own!_

**Warning: **_Lang-gu-ag…bhbfcndsijfvAOIRfjewbf. Language. Computer on the fritz_

* * *

**3****rd**** Person P.O.V.**

A sleepy voice startled Cana as she came back from the bathroom. It wasn't really early in the morning, but it wasn't late either. Cana found that she liked getting up at this time, it was her quiet time before the craziness of the guild. Sue her for liking her peace and quiet.

"Na-tsu…"

Cana raised an eyebrow and peered across to the bed where a mound of sheets and comforter made up Erza and Lucy. She could see Erza's strangely calm face peeking out of the sheets, red hair framing her closed face, so that could only mean that it was…

Another mumble came from the sheets and Cana watched with interest as Lucy rolled away from Erza and came close to falling off the bed, mumbling the whole while.

The blondes face was creased with lines of worry and her mouth was moving with unspoken words unconceivable to Cana. Her mouth turned down in a frown and she twitched as if she was being poked at by invisible hands.

"I'm not weak…I'll show you Natsu…" Lucy made a snuffling noise and shifted around some more. "'M no princess…you dick…"

Gulping down a laugh, Cana had to smile at Lucy's determined face. 'It's so cute, she's so much more determined and fearsome when she's like this. I notice she's been swearing more, just like that pink-haired idiot.' Cana moved to go make some coffee, god knows Lucy needs it in the morning. 'It's like she's trying to fill up his presence by acting more like him. That's a bit fucked, but cute all the same.'

"Coffeh?" A bleary eyed Erza poked her head up and peered around to find the source of the heavenly smell. "Where's the," a yawn interrupted Erza, "coffee?"

"Hello sleepy." Cana shot a grin towards the girl as the coffee maker finished making the coffee beans into the thick liquid in which you had to add to. "I've just put a pot on, would you like some?" There was a teasing lilt to the brunette's voice. Erza didn't usually have coffee in the mornings, but Cana had found that Erza quite liked her brew.

Erza nodded and wriggled around, trying to get out of the tangle of sheets that had caught her in their web. "Lucy's still asleep, isn't she?"

"Yep." Cana picked up the two mugs of coffee she had made and added the correct amount of milk and sugar into the two before walking over to the bed to pass Erza's mug to her. "Does she always sleep this heavily?"

Finishing a gulp of her coffee, Erza nodded in answer. "She's a heavy sleeper, just like Natsu. Gray's easy to wake up on missions, he's usually awake before me actually. But it's an effort to wake Lucy up and Natsu just snores too loud for him to hear you over the noise. I usually have to wave food in front of his face to wake him up." Erza raised her mug to scull some more of the hot liquid before sliding around Lucy and out of bed with a grace that many girls envied. "I guess we should get ready for another day of jobs."

Cana placed her mug down on the coffee table from her seat on the couch and crossed her arms. "Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh?" Erza looked at her friend from the corner of her eyes as she dropped down and began to do her morning stretches. "What about jobs?"

Cana crossed her legs and tilted back in her seat with a pondering look. "Lucy…she's feeling like shit right now because she's fighting with Natsu." At seeing Erza's vengeful look, Cana rushed her words in order to placate her. "It's neither of their fault, and Lucy doesn't feel really bad because Natsu's been really horrible to her, it's because they're so close."

"Those two are practically joined at the hip sometimes, so I'm worried that she's going to be more…reckless on missions in order to prove herself to Natsu. I've noticed that she's been acting a lot like Natsu, so I'm thinking she's trying to be like him in order to beat him or something. It's fucked up, but she seems to be coping better by doing so. Anyway, I was hoping that she would be better if she had people watching after her when she goes on jobs. Like, guardians or something."

Furrowing her brow in thought, Erza dropped into side splits and began to overextend her right leg in order to get a better stretch. "I see where you are coming from, Cana. I have also noticed Lucy's strange behaviour and I agree that she should be watched after so that she may not injure herself too badly. I could not stand it if one of my nakama were injured and that I was able to prevent them from hurting themself."

A smile crossed Cana's face as she listened to Erza's passionate voice. Although Titania could be downright terrifying, she was extremely defensive of her nakama, and would do anything to help them. Cana picked up her coffee and held it close to her. 'Just like everyone in Fairy Tail…'

Erza finished her stretches and stood up with a determined expression. "It's decided."

Cana choked on her coffee and quickly set it back down on the table before she could drown anymore. "W-what's been decided?"

"I've decided that I shall take Lucy on a month long job so that I can watch over her continuously! It is fool-proof!" Erza glared at the wall in her determination. "I will make sure that she learns to cease reckless behaviour and that she can show Natsu that she is not weak!"

"That's nice and all," deadpanned Cana. "But maybe get some more clothes on before you do that. A old t-shirt and Heart Cruz undies ain't gonna do jack shit when helping Lucy. Just thought you might wanna know."

* * *

**Lucy P.O.V.**

Grumbling as I was dragged along to the guild by a freakily awake Cana and Erza, I could only pray to god that Erza wasn't going to do something stupid. Last time she had this sort of determined look, I found myself wearing all of her Heart Cruz outfits and freaking _modelling it for her. _Let me tell you now, I like showing off my body occasionally, but those outfits were too much. I will never look at bunnies the same anymore.

"Errrrzaaaa…" I whined to the older girl. "What are you doing? Actually, what are _we _doing? I'm pretty sure we're going to the guild, but you have that funny look on your face…"

Erza merely glanced at me before grasping my right hand tighter with her gauntleted ones.

Pouting at her lack of response, I turned to the drinking brunette to my left. "Cana, what the hell are we doing?"

"Well, Lucy-chan," Cana grinned at me before finishing off her current bottle of alcohol. "It's a surprise, you see."

"I don't bloody see," I grumbled before deciding that fighting was futile and that I should just make my escape at the nearest convenient moment.

* * *

"I demand that we take this mission Mira!"

I watched in a confused silence as Erza slammed down the request that she had found onto the bench top in front of Mira. I had noticed that Erza had walked away from Cana and I when we had gotten to the guild, but I didn't expect her to grab a job. Where was she going with this?

Mirajane picked up the request and I watched her expressions closely as she read over it. Her facial features went from the usual I'm-full-of-beautiful-flowers-and-sunshine, to confused and then settled on concerned. Great, now _I _was concerned.

"Erza…" Mirajane looked up at the mage with a worried look. "Are you sure you want to do this? I mean…you're going to take Lucy and Cana…aren't you?"

"Woah, woah, woah!" Cana finally paid attention the conversation and glared at Erza from next to me. "Who the hell said anything about me going?!"

"Of course you're coming." Erza crossed her arms superiorly and faced an enraged Cana. "As they say; the more, the merrier. Right?" A dark aura formed around her and I inched behind a now scared Cana, hoping she wouldn't focus the glare on me.

"Fine," Cana conceded after a moment. "But there better be big jewels in this!"

"There's a five million jewel reward," Erza smirked.

My jaw dropped and I managed to stammer out the amount. Was Erza pulling my leg?

"Yes, Lucy," Erza said in a patient manner. "It's five million jewels for an S-class request. All we have to do is clear a forest of an infestation of dark creatures that have converged there. This is a perfect chance for you to get stronger, _and you don't have to see Natsu for a month. _So Lucy," Erza picked her eyebrow up at me. "What do you say?"

I bit my lip in order to not instantly say no to this job. The _old Lucy _would've said no straight away at the prospect of an S-class job, but now…Now I think that Erza is right. This would mean a great chance for me to raise my pitiful levels of fitness and for me to hopefully get Urano Metria down pat. It's a big ask, but I hope it'll work out. As for leaving for a month…I guess I've had worse. We had spent at least two weeks before on jobs, what's another two more? And I had Cana and Erza with me for company, I wouldn't be lonely. But Natsu…

_You need protecting because you're not strong enough to protect yourself!_

I gritted my teeth and slammed my hand down over the request. "Let's fucking do this!"

* * *

Screaming, I dodged the sudden black…_thing _that stabbed down at me. Rolling to the side, I quickly pulled Loke's key from my belt and slashed it through the air. "Open! Gate of the Lion, Leo!"

Ignoring the flirtations that came from Loke almost as soon as he was summoned, I shoved him out of the way of…what looked like to be a massive pincer. And I'm not talking about the rather big pincer you see on a King crab, I'm talking about a two-storey high, black pincer that came crashing down where Loke and I had just stood. And it belonged to the abomination that was currently hissing at us. A mutated looking crab with armour that blended into the shadows of the surrounding forest and stood nearly as tall as the old Fairy Tail guild.

"Not time for that crap Loke!" I gasped out before drawing Fleuve d'étoiles and cracking it at an approaching leg. "You're here to fight beside me, so let's go!"

Seeing Loke's hands beginning to glow beside me and his flirty expression turn to one of a serious calibre, I held out my whip in a ready position and dashed forwards. "Use Regulus Impact whenever I manage to slow it down, got it?!"

"Yes Lucy!" Came Loke's reply as he ran just behind me.

Deciding not to waste my breath replying, I twisted to avoid another leg and quickly extended Fleuve d'étoiles to wrap around it and one of the crab's pincers. Sliding to a stop in a safe spot under the crab, I pulled at Fleuve d'étoiles with all my might and watched with a satisfied expression as the crab began to teeter.

"Now, Loke!"

Feeling, rather than seeing, Loke run past, I watched with pride as a golden blast slammed into the crabs tangled pincer and pushed the wobbling crab over. That was my spirit!

"Move, Lucy! Get out of there!" Loke's panicked cry sounded and I looked around to see that as the crabs fell, it was stumbling back drunkenly and coming dangerously close to crushing me at several instances.

Untangling Fleuve d'étoiles, I snapped the tube casing shut and tucked it around my belt before taking off at a sprint. I could see Loke beckoning to me between legs that blocked my vision and I had to preform several twisting and dodging moves in order to not be crushed.

Sprinting the last bit, I absently noted one of the pincers swinging towards me. Hearing a cry of my name from Loke, I waited for Natsu to come for me like he normally does. The pincer was coming even closer and I was starting to get worried. Why was he taking so long?

_I_ _don't need your protection_.

Snapping out of my daze, I knew I couldn't move to the side to miss it, so I did a reckless thing in dropping one knee and leaning my body back in order to slide right underneath it. The grassy ground beneath me tried to slow me down, but I had too much momentum and continued at a fast pace underneath the pincer.

My slide slowly lost its momentum and I lay there in a daze as I stared up at the treetops that shadowed the small clearing we were in. I had dodged that all by myself. _All by myself. _No Natsu to save me there.

"Lucy!" Warm hands grabbed my waist and concerned brown eyes tinted by blue glasses looked down at me. "Are you hurt?"

Submitting to the help, I stood up and brushed my blue outfit off. "I'm fine, Loke, thank you for being concerned." Sending him a grin to ease his nerves, I turned around to see the giant crab on its back with its legs waving futilely in the air. "At least we knocked down that stupid crab."

Not hearing a reply, I turned to my most loyal spirit. "Loke? What's up?"

Concern rose up in me as Loke clenched his hands, his eyes shadowed by his lengthy bangs. "Lucy…you…" His head snapped up and his angry brown eyes made my breath catch. "How could you be so reckless?! You could have been crushed by that crabs claw if you hadn't moved! It was like you were in a daze just before it hit. And then you continued to run right towards it! Why would you do that?!"

I flinched at every angry comment and bowed my head in shame when he spoke of me being in a daze. "I'm sorry Loke…" Biting my lip nervously, I looked up at him through my bangs. "I didn't mean to get distracted, but…" Taking a deep breath, I stood upright and tugged my red gloves from their place tucked into my belt. "I won't make that mistake again." I pulled on the gloves and levelled – what I hoped to be – a determined look at him. "I will learn from this and will continue to get stronger from it. Don't be worried about me during fights, it'll only result in you getting hurt." I held up a hand to stop him from speaking. "I wasn't done yet Loke. If I get injured, it's my fault and I will learn from it. Getting hurt will raise my tolerance of pain and will toughen me up. God knows I need it…"

A hand was placed on my shoulder and I looked up to see a conflicted Loke looking at me. "Lucy…I know what happened between you and Natsu. It makes me want to punch the bastard in the face! But," he ruffled his hair with his free hand before answering. "You can't be driven by just greed. Greed in getting stronger. Power is the greatest reason for evil in the world." He let out a soft sigh before enveloping me in a hug. "Just don't get lost in that darkness. Promise me."

I was first shocked at the sudden hug, but then relaxed into it, glad of my lions' warmth. "Thanks, Loke. I promise you. I'm just sorry for not realising that I was sprouting so much crap about getting stronger, that isn't like me at all."

A chuckle echoed in my ear and Loke clutched me tighter. "I'm glad of that promise." He suddenly let go of me and dropped to one knee. "Now promise me your eternal love! Just as I have for you!"

"Damn it Loke!" I kicked out at my spirit and laughed when he went tumbling over. "C'mon slowpoke, I need to catch up to Cana and Erza. Then kick Cana's ass for leaving me to fight this stupid thing." I began to walk off, expecting Loke to catch up like he always does. "I swear, we enter this bloody forest and then we're instantly attacked. Typical."

"Now, my princess." Loke wrapped an arm around my waist and continued to walk beside me. "There is no need to get so angry, I'm sure they had a perfectly good reason in running off."

"Yeah," I replied, slinging my arm companionably around his shoulder.. "Erza mentioned a bigger monster and said that she would take care of it. Cana on the other hand.… I'm pretty sure she yelled something along the lines of _sucker _before chasing off after Erza." I pulled out a card with a chibi Cana on it from the bag I wore on my back, full of my supplies for this mission. "At least she left me this card to find her."

Loke hummed in agreement as we followed the glowing arrow that appeared on Cana's card, guiding us to where she was and – hopefully – Erza was too. I would bet my whip that we looked like a couple going for a walk in the woods with Loke's arm wrapped around my waist and mine over his shoulder.

A really creepy and monster filled forest.

After what felt like ten minutes of walking – avoiding the freaky noises and lashing out with Fleuve d'étoiles whenever something scuttled in front of the path we were walking on – we came to a part where the trees thinned out. The card glowed in my hand before the arrow died down.

I pushed Loke's arm off me and went stomping through the last of the trees. "CANA! YOU-!" I stopped at the sight that befell me.

"What on Earthland is _that?_" Loke said, conveniently summing up my thoughts for me.

"That is a monster that Erza just defeated." A suddenly appearing Cana gestured to the giant, hulking beetle husk that was currently taking up most of the clearing. "Pretty impressive, right?"

I snapped out of my staring contest with one of the red beetle eyes in order to quickly punch Cana on the shoulder.

"Ouch!" Cana rubbed the now-red shoulder and glared at me. "What the hell was that for?"

"For ditching me," I replied. "You're an ass.""

"No," Cana wagged a finger at me. "I have a _sexy ass._"

"And what a sexy as it is," agreed Loke as he took Cana's hand. "How long has it been, my bitter tonic?"

"Bitter tonic?" Snorted Cana as she slapped Loke's arm away. "That's lame, Loke, have you dropped your game?" She didn't wait for a reply before pulling my spirit into a hug. "It's been too long, man."

Smiling at the reunion, I looked around for Erza who was currently missing. "Where could she be…" Walking further into the clearing, I slowly circled the beetle husk, noting that it was hollow when I bravely knocked onto it. "Huh, this thing's big enough to be a house!"

A familiar slicing noise made me jump back and I watched as a sword appeared from out of the husk nearby. The sword flashed and suddenly two slices crossed each other in an X shape before another one sliced horizontally across the bottom, allowing a booted leg to kick a large chunk of the armoured outer layer away. Erza stepped casually from inside the beetle and smiled at me in a way I began to sweat at. "That's exactly what it's going to be used for, Lucy."

I blinked at her before pointing back to where Cana and Loke were currently catching up. "Umm…I'm just going to go…sit down. I don't even want to know _why _you're planning to build a house from a dead beetle-monster when our client said that there was lodgings close to the forest."

Erza walked past me, towards Cana and Loke, and I began to follow after her. "Well, while we're on that topic, Lucy. I'm going to have to inform you of some changes in our job. We're going to stay in this forest because it is easier than coming from the lodgings every day. And it would be costly to stay there for the next two months."

I froze, even as Erza continued by. _Two months? Two __**freaking **__months?!_

I summed up the situation in one word. "Fuck."

* * *

**3****rd**** Person P.O.V.**

Biting his lip nervously, the young male poked his head into the guild before cautiously entering. He couldn't smell his favourite blonde, but he always found it hard to smell anyone specific in the massive mixture of scents in his beloved guild.

"Natsu."

The boy started at his name and turned to face who had spoken it, visibly relaxing at what he saw. "Ah, Lisanna!"

Lisanna smiled sweetly at her childhood friend before skipping up to stand right in front of him, rocking back on her heels when she peered up at him. "You look terrible Natsu. Have you been getting enough sleep? I haven't seen you in the guild for the past three days and we were all starting to get worried."

Natsu rubbed at his itchy and tired eyes before answering. "I'm fine Lisanna, don't worry about me. But you can help me."

"Oh?" Lisanna cocked her head to the side. "What can I do for you Natsu?"

Chewing on his lip nervously, Natsu let out a sigh that drew out all of his breath. "Lucy. Do you know where she is?"

Hiding a smile at his cute anxiousness, Lisanna continued to scrutinise Natsu as he looked around the guild for his partner. His eyes were bruised and his lips slightly bloodied, like he had been chewing it nervously for days. Which was probably what he had been doing. His beloved scarf sat crookedly around his neck. Another strange thing. His clothes also hung off him, creased like he hadn't changed them for days.

Now severely worried for her friend, Lisanna answered his question. "I haven't seen Lucy-san for the last couple of days. I think it was three or four days ago that she came in with Cana and Erza. Either than that, I don't know where she is."

Anxiousness mounting once more, Natsu nodded gratefully at Lisanna before heading off to her sister where she was handing Gray some sort of ice drink. Mirajane knew everything that went on in the guild. Surely she would know where Lucy is.

So great was his anxiousness that he didn't notice the guild had fallen silent and that many were looking upon him with pity. Some with fear at how their precious nakama would react when he heard the news.

Mirajane had noted of the silence and quickly straightened up from where she had been chatting with Gray to look around at what had caused it. Catching sight of Natsu, her eyes widened and then quickly fell into a state of sadness. _Poor Natsu…_

Natsu had seen her sadness and his anxiousness was taken over by a fear that quickened his steps and halted him right in front of Gray's table and Mirajane.

"Lucy." That was all he needed to say. It was said with a breathless exhale of air that sounded weak, even to Natsu's ears.

There was silence and both Gray and Mirajane shared a look, one that Natsu had seen before.

_When Lisanna died._

"TELL ME!" He slammed his fist into the table Gray sat at, not minding that the silence of the guild was tinged with fear.

"Natsu…" Mirajane hesitantly reached out and placed a soft hand onto his tense and trembling shoulder. "I'm sorry, but Lucy isn't here."

"Isn't here?" Natsu croaked out and slowly his arms began to tremble even more. "Then where is she?"

"Somewhere in the middle of a dark forest," Gray inputted, looking unusually solemn. "Fighting dark creatures with Cana and Erza. It's an S-class job that they went on three days ago."

The trembling in Natsu's arms began to subside, but only slightly. "She's just on a job. Just on a job in a forest."

"Yes, Natsu." Gray's dark eyes stared into the Dragon Slayer's unflinchingly. "And that's where she's going to stay for the next month."

_The next month…_

Natsu Dragneel, son of Igneel, Salamander of Fairy Tail and well-renowned mage, dropped down to his knees and felt the emotion he had been feeling for the past few days so strongly that it _hurt. _He felt guilty at his actions. He felt guilty every time he thought of his words. He felt guilt every time he realised that he was the reason that Lucy didn't want him nearby.

* * *

**-Two weeks have passed since job initiation-**

Cana stared across at Lucy's perfectly still form that was sitting cross-legged in front of…what looked to be a floating cross. It had a moustache and Lucy said its name was Crux-jii, but it freaked her out. Whatever the hell it was. She turned to Erza who was sitting on the tree stump beside her, meticulously sharpening one of her many swords. "What the hell is she doing?"

The Re-quip mage never paused in her task, only quickly looking up at the form of Lucy before looking back down. "Meditating. I told her to do it in order to calm her magic down more and to draw it out easier. She's practising a Caster spell, something that she, a Holder mage, finds a bit of trouble with. So I put her onto meditating and finding her magic. Crux-jii just came out in order to help her some more."

Peering at the spirit with a snot bubble coming out of its nose, Cana had to snort back a laugh. "Yeah, it's meditating."

"Hush, Cana." Erza placed down her sword and stared intently at Lucy. "She's done it."

"Only took her three hours," grumbled Cana but obligingly looked at her friend. "Erza, what the hell is happening? Should she be glowing?"

And it was true. The still form of Lucy was glowing a soft golden and her hair and clothes were being ruffled by an invisible wind. Her eyes were still shut in concentration and her face was a picture of calm.

Crux slowly opened his eyes to study his long-time summoner. A smile appeared under his moustache and he could only wonder at the girl's ability to focus. Maybe if she wasn't so devoted to the path she was choosing, she may have had more trouble meditating, but right now, she was making her mother proud.

Brown eyes didn't open as Lucy slowly uncurled herself from her position and stood upright. Her arms that hung relaxed at her hip slowly came up to hover by her waist. Her head tilted back and she began to speak in a whispering voice that echoed and rung with power.

_Survey the Heavens, Open the Heavens...  
All the stars, far and wide...  
Show me thy appearance...  
With such shine.  
Oh Tetrabiblos...  
I am the ruler of the stars...  
Aspect become complete...  
Open thy malevolent gate.  
Oh 88 Stars of the heaven...  
Shine!  
Urano Metria!_

To the two watching girls, it seemed like great glowing orbs had appeared around Lucy as everything went dark. The blonde was a glowing beacon in the darkness amongst – what Erza and Cana could only guess to be – the eighty-eight stars of the heavens. As the last words were spoken, there was a flare in light from Lucy and all of the stars rushed forwards to hit the trees that fringed the clearing they had set up camp in.

"Holy…" Cana stared in amazement as the front row of trees were completely obliterated and rained down in splinters. The few stumps that remained were smoking and some had been pulled up from the ground, roots exposed to the mild summer air.

The person who caused all this damage slowly stopped glowing and finally opened her eyes to survey her success. A sharp gasp escaped her lips and she could only stare at the damage she had caused. Taking a step towards the trees, Lucy's legs crumbled from underneath her and she fell forward, exhausted and unconscious from her use of magic.

Standing up, Erza calmly made her way over to her fallen friend, nodding in thanks to Crux who then took it as his cue to leave. The red head knelt down next to the girl and picked up her rather light body in a bridal carry. She walked past the stump where a still stunned Cana sat, staring at the damage inflicted by the frail-looking blonde.

Entering the hole in the beetle's carcass that served as a makeshift door, Erza walked over to a large pile of soft leaves that the girls had managed to gather and laid the blonde down there, making sure she was comfortable before taking her leave.

Looking back once more before she could leave the place they temporarily called home, a soft smile appeared on Erza's face as she looked at Lucy's quietly sleeping form. "You have done so well Lucy, becoming so strong in this short amount of time. I'm proud of you."

The blonde murmured in her sleep and rolled over. "_Natsu…_"

* * *

Staring out at the night sky, Natsu buried his head down into the blankets that lay haphazardly on Lucy's bed. Her scent had been stronger three days ago, but the smell was dulling so much that Natsu's sensitive nose could only pick up the smell of vanilla. The smell of flowers had all but disappeared, remaining only in the bathroom where the scented shampoo lay.

The boy shifted around uneasily, somehow wishing that Happy was there. He had left the cat in Wendy and Carla's care after he had chased after Lucy, not wanting him to see Natsu so depressed.

But most of all…He wanted the fingers that stroked through his hair absently when the other hand was busy scratching down ideas. He wanted the breakfast that met him in the mornings the rare few times that he was allowed to stay the night. He wanted the comforting smell and feel of skin that was hovering nearby, a constant in his life just like Happy.

He wanted _Lucy._

* * *

**Ta~daa~**

**So yeah, this is my take on Lucy's levelling up away from the guild and the scene in which Natsu notices Lucy is gone. They are two main key points in all of these types of fan fictions and I decided to put an input of logic and realism rather than rushing through it like many other people do.**

**I hope to see you all soon.**

**Ciao.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys, did you miss me? Maa, I understand if you didn't 'cause I'm slow as fuck and have been putting off this next chapter. I've been reading heaps of NaLu love one-shots and I just had to postpone this before I turned it into a massive love-fest that would ruin the point of this story.**

**Also, when do you think I should end this story? I'm thinking at the end of Eclipse and not do Tartorus or something like that. But I can keep going if I make the love take ages…**

**Eh, I'll figure it out later, time for the chapter!**

**(I hope you guys don't get confused with the switches between time and P.O.V.s!)**

* * *

**Disclaimer: **_I don't own, but if I did, Natsu and Lucy would've _at least _kissed by now!_

**Warning: **_Language, blah, blah, blah…_

* * *

**-Five weeks have passed since job initiation-**

* * *

"Ah!" Lucy managed to duck the glowing card that cut through the air, just missing her hair that was currently up in a ponytail. "Do you have to throw them so fast, Cana?!"

The drunken mage snickered to herself as she drew some more plain cards from her usual blue side-bag. "That's the whole point, Lucy-chan. If you want to learn how to dodge impeccably, then you have to learn how to dodge fast moving objects." Flicking her wrist, she sent three cards whistling through the air towards her blonde comrade, who squealed in turn and covered her hands over head as she scrunched down into a small ball.

"You have to stand up straight," lectured Erza as she cut strips into a – very much dead – monsters tough outer skin. "Twist your body like I taught you and you'll be able to dodge Cana's cards, then be perfectly prepared for more attacks that come right after." Lifting a dark brown strip of monster skin, Erza examined the material closely. "This stuff will be excellent to sell to a local armoury. It's so tough that it can take hits from swords and magic, and come out perfectly fine."

"Excluding your swords," Cana said dryly as she rummaged around for more cards. Pulling out another card, she examined his print and a very evil grin covered her face. "Hey, Lucy…"

Said blonde's face drained of Cana. She knew that look.

Wagging the cards tauntingly in the air, Cana began to push her magic to them, watching gleefully as they began to glow a deep purple. "Are you ready for this, Lucy-chan? These are explosive cards, something I just know you'll _love_."

"Please," Lucy whimpered as she watched Cana rear her arm back in preparation. "Have mercy."

"Dodge this, Lucy-chan!"

"AAGGGHHH!"

* * *

Tugging her metal tube from her belt, Lucy swung Fleuve d'étoiles back as it activated and extended out in a glittery, blue tendril. "Hah!" Flicking the whip, Lucy watched with satisfaction as it coiled around a scuttling monster twenty metres away. Casually flicking her wrist again, Lucy lifted the unsuspecting monster up in the air and then across, right into its friends.

Lucy began to cheer as the ten or so monsters were knocked over like skittles. "Haha! KO in one shot!" With a smug look on her face, she looked over to her current companion in her usual sweep of the forest for monsters. "Try and beat that."

Taurus let out a moo and tore his gaze away from Lucy's sizable bust that was barely contained by her current singlet. "I'll try my best foooor yooour nice body, Luuuucy-san!"

The cow-spirit raised his axe in a ready position and charged through the trees after monsters that only he could see.

"Taurus!" Lucy's left arm waved frantically in the air as she began to sprint after her spirit. "Wait up, Taurus! Don't just go running off like that! COME BACK HERE!"

"MOOO! I WILL GET VICTOOOORY FOR LUCY-SAN'S NICE BODY!"

"LIKE HELL YOU WILL!"

* * *

Sitting on a log around the fire that Cana had started, Lucy let out a tired sigh and massaged her tired calves. "Man, I never thought that running through a forest could be so hard."

"Be glad that Erza banned you from wearing mini-skirts and heeled boots," commented Cana as she tilted her head back to get the last drops of whatever alcohol she was drinking from her flask. "The trip you had over those tree roots would've been even _more _mortifying than it already was."

A hot flush worked up Lucy's face as she remembering the embarrassing incident earlier that day. "Oh god, it so would've."

Trying to hide the blush still lingering around her cheeks, Lucy leant forward to pick up a stick so that she could poke at the cheery campfire they had going. She and Cana sat together in companionable silence until Lucy spoke up once more.

"Um, Cana?"

The brunette made a noise of acknowledgement at the question.

"T-thanks for saving me today." Lucy fiddled with an end of her blonde that she noted was getting longer. Maybe she should get it cut? "If you weren't there when I tried, who knows what could've happened."

Cana cocked an eyebrow at the quiet comments, but her face turned soft as the girl who had spoken fiddled uncertainly, an air of hesitance around her. "'S okay, Lucy-chan. I know that you or Erza would've done the same for me, so think of it as a compensation for working together."

Looking up uncertainly, Lucy gave Cana a soft smile. "Yeah, I get it." Her gaze was still troubled though, and Cana quickly caught on to her train of thoughts. "You're not weak, you know?"

Lucy jolted in surprise. "W-what?"

"You're not weak." Cana leant back on her own log, right leg going over her left to get more comfortable. "You're not weak if you need assistance every once in a while. You're not weak when you openly admit to being wrong. You're not weak when you need your comrades to be there, even if it's just to lend a helping hand." The drunks face was soft as she said it, even understanding in a way.

Gazing in surprise at the older girl, Lucy couldn't help but wonder _why _she hadn't already been friends with this nice, sweet, caring girl before. People like Cana was why she fell in love with Fairy Tail over again every time she walked through the guild doors. Smiling, Lucy nodded to Cana, "mn!"

* * *

**-Six weeks have passed since job initiation-**

* * *

"I have just informed Master of the fact that we are staying here for another month," announced Erza as she walked into the clearing that she and her two friends called 'home base.' Sitting down with poise on one of the many logs that counted as their seats, Erza watched with interest as Lucy roused from her meditation and Cana turned from her impromptu game of darts – except with cards and a simple tree knot as bullseye – to look towards her.

"Oh," Lucy uncrossed her legs and sent Crux back to the spirit realm with a slash of his key. "I was wondering how long it would take for the mayor to acquire you a speaking lacrima. It was a week ago that you went into town to ask him for one, wasn't it? The same trip that you managed to get _real food_."

"My, Lucy-chan." Cana sauntered over to flop on the grass near Erza's booted feet. "It seems like you're complaining about mine and Erza's _exquisite _meals of roasted deer and pheasant."

Lucy quickly protested as she sat down next to Cana. "N-no! I would never! It's just…" a pout came over her and she picked sulkily at the grass at her feet. "I miss Mira's cooking."

"We all do, sweetheart," sighed Cana.

"Food aside," Erza interrupted with an amused tone. "Master says that he's fine with us continuing this job and that he wishes us well. He also said that Levy and Mirajane say hi."

Lucy smiled a wry grin. "I miss them too…"

Cana shot a look towards Erza. 'That's not all she misses…'

A saddened look replaced Erza's amused one and she frowned as she thought along the same lines as Cana's unspoken thoughts. 'Damn you, Natsu! Even when you're not here you're still causing trouble!'

"Ah well!" The sharp clap of Lucy's hands drew the two older girls out of their thoughts. "We're just going to have to work extra hard to make the reunion extra special!" The blonde jumped to her feet and began to tug slightly on Erza's arm. "C'mon, Erza! I want to go through those punches you showed me last week! I think I'm getting better!"

Erza merely smiled as the excited blonde began to pull her towards a slightly trashed area of the clearing that was the girl's designated 'training zone.'

'If someone had pulled me along like this barely a year ago, I would've proceeded to beat them into unconsciousness. Lucy, you don't realise how much you've changed everyone.' Her arm was promptly let go and Lucy bounded back a couple of paces in order to show Erza some of her punches. "See! I think I've got a mean left hook in me if I keep at this!"

"Maybe," Erza replied as she went over to correct the way that Lucy stood. "If you work hard at it, Lucy."

Lucy turned her head to smile a beautiful smile at Erza. "Okay!"

A soft smile crossed Erza's face as she watched the girl. 'And I think you've changed everyone for the better. Especially me.'

* * *

**-Three weeks since Lucy, Erza and Cana have left for their job-**

* * *

"Natsuuuu," whined Happy as he tugged on his partner's vest. "Can we _please _go on a job?! I'm getting bored and I want enough money to buy Carla another fish!"

There was no response from the Fire mage, who continued to stare listlessly at the swirls in the wood of the table he was currently sitting at. This was Team Natsu's and his usual booth, until two of them had left for a job for a month and the other had been asked on a job by a nervous Water mage.

Happy's paw slipped from Natsu's vest and he stared sadly at his partner's blank face. "…Okay, Natsu. I'll just be over by Carla and Wendy if you need me." With that, the exceed sprouted wings and glided over to the table that currently housed a chatting Wendy and Carla who was sitting opposite Laki, something that had been seen more and more the past couple of weeks.

Although Fairy Tail were all a family and mixed easily, there was still small groups inside of the guild. Little, tightly-knit groups that associated mainly amongst themselves. But lately, the girls had seemingly acted on an unspoken order and had begun to associate more and more with each other and other males that they normally didn't talk to.

Wendy was the main person who changed partners in jobs and conversation. Being the youngest, the older girls all felt some sort of older sister protectiveness and many had acted on it, frequently inviting her on jobs and giving her useful advice when she was sitting alone at the guild. It had made her transition into Fairy Tail a little bit easier. The young girl really hadn't had time to settle before the guild got swept up into Edolas, so it was a nice thing for her to get used to the guild and its members.

When Happy landed next to Carla on the tabletop, one of Wendy's hands instantly came up to scratch him behind his left ear like he loved. She had been doing that more and more recently, neither Lucy nor Natsu there to do it like they usually did.

Natsu looked over at the scene and quickly lay his head back down on crossed arms, face unreadable as he buried it into his scarfs usual warmth. 'Only a week or so more. Just a few more days…'

* * *

**-Six weeks since Lucy, Erza and Cana have left for their job-**

* * *

'It's been too long!' Natsu looked around the guild with a frown on his normally joyous face, noting at how many of the everyday members had a similar worried look on their face. 'Luce should be back by now! Where are they? Is she hurt?'

There was a rapping noise from the wooden balcony that overlooked the guild, and Natsu – along with the other Fairy Tail members – looked up to see their master gazing down on them, staff clutched in one hand as he perched on the railing surrounding the balcony.

"OI GRAMPS!" Natsu roared, standing up abruptly from his usual seat. "IT'S BEEN OVER A MONTH! WHERE THE HELL IS LUCY?!"

There was a murmur of assent across the guild, several members looking to each other to agree with their nakama's words.

"Sit down, Natsu," Makarov said firmly, staring with a stern eye until Natsu sat down again. "I am about to announce something about three of our members job." He coughed lightly into his hand before continuing. "As some of you might know; Erza, Lucy and Cana left on an S-class month long job. And yet, it's been over a month, hasn't it?"

"Get on with it!" Natsu grumpily yelled, standing up again out of agitation. 'Why doesn't he just hurry up and tell us if they're alright already?'

"Yes, well, ignoring that interruption." Makarov adjusted his grip on his staff, waiting warily for the reactions that were, no doubt, about to come. "I have just been contacted by Erza via speaking lacrima, and I have found out that the mayor still needs their assistance for a bit longer. The forest they are cleansing is vast and riddled with numerous monsters, so it has taken a bit longer than expected to clear out their allotted area of the forest."

No. Natsu knew where this was going. He _knew _where this was going to head.

"So, in light of that, our three girls are staying on for another month, to make sure that they do a thorough job. Fairy Tail mages don't leave any job unfinished or half-done!"

A yell of agreement echoed across the guild, but many people's hearts weren't in it. Their favourite re-quip, drunken card, and Celestial mage weren't going to be back for another month.

Sure, Erza used to often leave for months at a time on S-class jobs before she had been part of Team Natsu. But, everyone had gotten used to her presence. As scary as it was at times, Fairy Tail had gotten to love her over again, her heart softening and becoming more accepting as time went by. They loved their Titania and missed her sorely since she was gone.

It was strange, for many of the regulars of Fairy Tail, to come to the guild and to not see their resident drunk already chugging down barrels at her usual spot on Mirajane's bar top. The guild had been a lot quieter without the usual sly comments slipping out her mouth and antagonising several males. Very quiet indeed.

It was also curious, to miss someone so furiously when they had been at the guild for barely a year. But their Celestial mage was cheerful and bubbling, often brightening many people's days with her kind words and bright smiles. It was rather empty without her usual large aura that commandeered so many people's attention.

Meanwhile, a certain Dragon Slayer returned back down to his seat and lay his head on the table. It was only when several taunts from Gray snapped his last thread of patience that he moved. Jumping up to engage the Ice mage into a fist fight that he hadn't realised that he missed.

Shortly, several other people were pulled into the brawl and the tense atmosphere evaporated at the familiar yells and crashing that meant home.

Mirajane watched this all with a soft smile, only turning her gaze from the chaos to lock gazes with Makarov, her smile slipping slightly at his serious expression. The old man looked down at the scene and his serious expression turned to one of exasperated endearment before he turned to go back to his office. Waiting, like so many others, for their girls to come back.

* * *

**-Nine weeks have passed since job initiation-**

* * *

Absently kicking away a small, creeping monster, Lucy pondered over the fact that, in three days' time, she, Erza and Cana would _finally _be heading back to Fairy Tail. The time had been passing so quickly in their home base, and Lucy had to say, she would miss this.

It was oddly soothing to wake up each morning, knowing that you could do whatever you wanted. As long as you brought a partner to protect your back, you could go almost anywhere in the small area of the forest they had started clearing monsters out of.

Occasionally, Erza had declared a rest day, and the girls had spent their day swimming in a river that was their water source, or even just doing small, trivial things that they loved.

Before, Lucy may have wrote a couple of chapters to her book, but she had found no urge to scribble aimless words down on paper. How could she, when she could be spending her time play-fighting with her beloved spirits or nakama. How could she, when she had the option to try amazing things that she had never done before.

It turns out, Lucy _really did _have a brave side buried inside of her. It shone brightly when Cana would dare her to small contests that she used to mock Gray and Natsu for doing.

First one to the top of a three-storey tree? Sure, she could climb it with her bare hands now, only a small trace of fear sitting in her chest, but that was usually washed away after a minute or two of climbing, the adrenaline stronger than any fear she had ever felt.

Take down one of those giant beetle monsters that Erza had taken down on their first day in the forest? Definitely. How fast did you want it done?

Back in the protection of Fairy Tail's strongest team, Lucy was sheltered from _so many_ things! It was like she had never lived until she had tried hunting down her own food when they didn't have any more provisions from the nearby town – A day's walk was a bit much for packaged meat when you could just get it yourself in the wild. Natsu or Gray used to do this, but Erza expected her and Cana to take turns with her to get food, and that was now fine was Lucy. Sure, she had whined at first, but she eventually learned that whining didn't get you anywhere with two other females. Natsu was the one who used to crack under her pouts and whines, but that wasn't needed out here.

Would she even need it when she went back?

**No. **She wouldn't need to be that whiney, prissy girl who wore mini-skirts and tube tops. After Erza had banned those accessories along with heels, Lucy found – after a week or two though – that she didn't miss them anymore. Comfortable t-shirts and loose singlets were more than enough. Paired with shorts and long pants, Lucy didn't think she had been more comfortable in her life wearing clothes.

And of course, she had taken to wearing her red gloves almost all the time. They were surprisingly tough and hardy, not tearing under the pressure of rough wood when she carried large hauls of it for the fire.

So maybe she was excited to go back to Fairy Tail and to see more of her precious nakama, but she would also miss this simple lifestyle. The only things to worry about was surviving battles and whether the food would be badly burnt.

Back at Fairy Tail, she had so many worries and unanswered questions that was only going to stress her out. The main being; Natsu.

Oh god, how could she face her most precious nakama when she had run away? Run away from him and their hurt feelings? Looking back on it now, Lucy could safely say that yes, she was a bit of an idiot for running away and hiding. But, all the same, if she hadn't done that, would she have done all of the things she had done recently?

Again, **no. **

Rousing herself out of her thoughts, Lucy blinked twice to realise that the surrounding monsters had all been taken care of.

"We are! Sorry Lucy, but I thought I could clear off these last freaks while you were daydreaming."

A blush rose to Lucy's face at Scorpio's casual words. "Sorry, Scorpio! I shouldn't have fallen asleep on the job like that!"

Her spirit shrugged his shoulders as he walked over to her, "ah well, Lucy, you have your reasons."

"Eh?"

Scorpio patted her softly on the shoulder, a huge feat for him since he – along with Aries and Gemini – had been rather uncomfortable with human contact after Angel. Lucy suspected that Angel had done some horrible things to her beloved spirits. Loke had admitted to her that Aries hadn't been _that _nervous and anxious last time he had met her, with Karen, and he was rather worried.

Lucy had sat down during her time in the forest, and had talked to all of her spirits one-by-one, working out problems they had, in both their lives and with her. It was safe to say, she had copped a lot of verbal abuse from Aquarius and had been mortified by some of her spirits stories of previous owners.

She had begun trying hard to understand her spirits, relaxing her usual yells at them, in fear, that they may think of her as their old, horrible summoners.

"You have talked to us spirits about, Natsu, haven't you?" Scorpio interrupted her thoughts and jolted her back to the present, where currently, she was being asked about a touchy subject.

"Yes," said Lucy simply, "I have."

"And you know that majority of us want to punch him right in the face?"

"I know." Now Lucy was amused. Her spirits could be so protective sometimes.

"But we also know how worried you are to go back to Fairy Tail, to finally talk to him." Scorpio let his hand slip from her shoulder and he stepped back. "So relax, and don't worry, Lucy. If anything happens, know that we'll be right there beside you! Fists at the ready!" He gave her his usual hand sign and disappeared in a golden flash, his grinning face imprinted into Lucy's mind.

"You guys…" Lucy sighed in fondness as she fingered her keys that hung from her belt. "I love you guys so much, you know that?"

Her keys jingled together and glowed a bright gold in response.

The Celestial mage smiled again before turning around and heading through the tangled forest to get back to her nakama that were waiting for her at home base.

* * *

Cana was calmly laying out cards to read the future. Not really a specific future of anyone, just anything that might be happening soon. Anything at all.

"Hm, the tower. The queen. The serpant." Cana fiddled with her deck some more before tugging out two more cards and placing them down. Almost instantly, her calm face turned to one of slight panic and anxiousness. "Damn it! This isn't good. The cards say that there will be happiness, but it will be short lived, only to be replaced with endless time." The brunette frowned to herself before placing three cards down to read the immediate future.

"Fuck." Cana stared down at the cards that basically spelt out pain. Flipping a forth card, she relaxed slightly. "Only slight pain. One that doesn't last long, thank god."

Hearing clanking, Cana looked up to see Erza marching over to her, a sword disappearing from her hands in a flash. "How was the last sweep?"

"Fine." Erza sat down on a log and relaxed. "I think we've completely cleared this area, which is good as the mayor says the next bout of mages are going to come soon for the next area."

Cana made a noncommittal sound in her throat and slowly packed away her tarot cards. "The cards aren't reading too good, Erza. I'm reading bad things in the future, and it seems like they'll last for a while."

Nodding, Erza passed over a card with tangled roses on it. "That's not good news for us, is it?"

Cana didn't say anything to that, but quickly glanced around the clearing. "Shouldn't Lucy-chan be back by now?"

"Yes, I believe so, why?"

Glancing down at the rosed card in her hand, Cana's mind turned to the scythe card she had just packed away. "Pain…" The light bulb went off and Cana jumped up off the grass, cards clenched tightly in her hands.

"Cana?" Looking confused, Erza stood up beside her friend. "What's wrong?"

"I think Lucy's in trouble," stated Cana anxiously, forgoing her usual casual endearment for her blonde friend in her strife. "The cards are telling me bad things."

Erza disappeared, only to be replaced by the strong warrior, Titania. "You have that card to lead us to Lucy's whereabouts, don't you? Activate it and lead on!"

"There's no need for that." Loke pushed his way through some vines and out into the clearing, his arms occupied by the still form of Lucy. "I have her here and we need to get her help. Now!"

There was a pause as the two girls took in Lucy's blood-soaked right arm before they sprang into action. Cana running for the medical pack they had brought from the town for this reason and Erza hurrying forward to help Loke bring Lucy to a safe and comfortable spot on the grassy ground.

A hiss of air escaped Erza's teeth as she took in the claw that had taken pieces out of Lucy's skin. There were three claw marks that ran horizontally across her arms. One was just below her elbow, another a few inches down and the last one cut into the back of her hand before trailing to her wrist.

"Hurry Cana!" Erza bellowed back to the other girl as she and Loke pressed down on the wounds that were sluggishly weeping blood, not minding that their hands were becoming slick with the substance.

"Here!" Cana threw Erza the bandages and quickly kneeled down next to Lucy's side, opposite of Erza, with a tub of herbal salve in her hands. "Shit!" The brunette took in the wounds before exploding back into action, frantically unscrewing the tubs lid and dipping her fingers into the pale paste to swipe it gingerly across the wounds.

"Lucy!" Patting the blonde's pale cheeks, Loke tried to get a response out of her. "Lucy, stay with me here! Don't you dare fall unconscious!"

A rasp came out of Lucy's throat in response, her head twitching until her brown eyes could stare up into Loke's own, his glasses tilting his eyes blue. "I'm not going anywhere yet, Loke." She broke off into a hiss of pain as Cana dabbed the salve more thickly onto her wounds, the tub of salve turning red with the blood that was being put back into it.

Working quickly, Erza followed Cana's path of treatment, bandaging whatever part Cana had just salved, making sure that the bandages were tight and thick enough to slow the amount of blood leaking out of the wounds. "We'll pack up home base now and get moving. It'll take us three days to get back to Magnolia if we catch the train, and I'm sure Lucy can hold out that long so that Wendy can heal her."

Loke opened his mouth to protest, but a pale hand grasped his dangling red tie weakly. "D-don't worry, Loke, I'll be fine. I'm made of tough stuff, remember?"

A bitter chuckle came from Loke's lips at Lucy's words. "Yeah, I remember." He then looked at Erza and Cana seriously. "You two can go pack up, I'll get Virgo out so that she can help tend Lucy, she's the best person for that."

Sharing an uncertain look, Cana and Erza nodded before scrambling up to go and collect their things into the packs that they brought.

"Brother, is Hime hurt?" Virgo appeared, standing, next to Loke, her normally blank face shadowed slightly.

"Yes, Virgo," Loke said quietly his arms going protectively around Lucy as he lifted the suddenly unconscious girl to carry her in a bridle carry. "I'll need you to be on hand if Lucy gets worse."

"Of course," Virgo nodded to the greater spirit before standing to attention. "Do you want me to tunnel a hole under this forest and to the nearby town?"

Loke nodded gratefully. "That would be excellent Virgo." The maid bowed and disappeared down in a flurry of dirt.

"We're ready to go, Loke!" Cana ran towards him, Erza falling into step beside her. "Let's hurry up and go!"

"Follow me!" Loke replied, approaching the hole Virgo had left. "Virgo has made a tunnel for us directly to town. It'll be faster and safer to get to town by this."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Erza breezed past him. "We have no time to waste!" She leapt down the hole and Cana could hear her clanking as she landed. "It's safe, now Loke come next with Lucy! Will protect her from both sides if Cana follows behind you Loke!"

Smiling grimly, Loke jumped down the hole, followed seconds after by Cana. "Let's hurry and catch the afternoon train. It'll be the next one."

Cana nodded and chased after the lion spirit, worried eyes trained on the bandaged arm that dangled limply in the air beside Loke, already turning a deep scarlet in colour.

* * *

The train rattled and Virgo calmly steadied Lucy whose head was currently in her lap, her torso and legs supported by Erza and Cana respectively.

"How much long until we get there?" Loke asked anxiously from his seat opposite the two girls in the compartment. They had been given the private compartment after the train attendants had seen Lucy's condition, and they had proceeded to state that they would continue the train past its usual stop in order to get to Magnolia quickly. Something that everyone was very happy about.

"Six more hours," said Erza, brushing her fingers across the bandaged arm that they already had to change twice before. "Just six more hours…"

The compartment fell into an uneasy silence, content to wait for the train to reach its destination.

* * *

**-Nine weeks since Lucy, Erza and Cana have left for their job-**

* * *

"When is Lucy coming back?" Levy stroked the spine of a book, not opening its pages, just sitting at a table and stroking its worn spine over and over, like a mantra.

"Don't know, shrimp," Gajeel grunted. "It could be any-" He suddenly sat up, body tense, as he listened to something that only he could hear. The pierced mage didn't answer Levy's questions, instead, he turned to look across the guild to where Natsu normally sat.

He too, was sitting bolt upright, intent on listening. Even from his fair distance away, Gajeel could catch the whispered, "no way.."

Natsu made to stand up, but found his movement interrupted by the abrupt slamming open of the guild doors.

Collectively, the guild froze and then turned to look at the blinding light that came in from the door way, Natsu was caught in a half-standing position as he began to make out the shadows in the bright afternoon light.

The unmistakeable clanking and rattling of armour awoke the guild from their daze and many begun to get excited. "Erza! She's back!"

The Re-quip mage barged forward, her face extremely serious, and underlined with worry and fear. "Quickly! Is Wendy here?!"

Many people's heart sank as they interpreted their nakama's words. "Who's hurt? Who's been injured?"

Cana entered next, out of breath and clenching tightly onto her tarot cards. "Wendy! We need her right now!"

Right there and then, Natsu didn't think he could get more scared than right now. His heart was past his navel and he was dreading what he was going to see next. His legs though, hadn't heard what his brain and heart was thinking, and had already begun to move him towards the guild doors and the last shadow.

"I'm here!" Wendy ran out from behind her usual table and stopped beside Erza and Cana. "What is it?!"

"Lucy's hurt," came the croaked reply from Loke as he stepped out of the glare of the sun. "We need you to heal her Wendy. Right away."

In his arms was Lucy, her body looking unnaturally frail right then. Natsu couldn't help but notice she looked thinner and stronger, before his gaze finally fell onto her right arm that dangled uselessly, seemingly tumbling out of Loke's strong arms.

Even though they were heavily bandaged, Natsu could still smell the sweet, yet metallic, scent of blood, and he could only watch in horror as the bandage changed into a darker shade of scarlet.

"Luce…?"

* * *

**I hate everything right now. This chapter was so…UIFBHRGBJWDOWPQJNF!**

**Meh, even if it's awful, I don't mind too much. I'm good with what I've written, even if it's a little melodramatic.**

**I wasn't going to write Lucy being injured, but then I realised that she should've been injured at least once on her trip. It would be ridiculous and make Lucy seem overpowered if she came out unscathed, so yeah. Ta daa!**

**Okay then, I'm finished and I hope you didn't hate it too much.**

**Ciao.**

**P.S. Have you guys ever heard **_**Lucy **_**by **_**Skillet? **_**It has just come on as I'm finishing this and I can't help but think that if Lucy ever dies, I will be listening to this song for about three days straight after.**

**May Lucy never die and may Natsu and her walk hand and hand always, just not in heaven.**

**Amen.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Yo guys! Sorry 'bout that cliffhanger, but it was so worth it. I'm not even sorry. It was a little on the melodramatic side and I may fix it at a later date, but I hope that I can work with it well enough that you will continue to enjoy this story. **

**Thank you so much for your reviews!**

* * *

**Disclaimer: **_I don't own this anymore than Lucy owns Aquarius. Wow was that mean!_

**Warning: **_I dunno…language, violence, fighting? We'll just have to see…_

* * *

**-Four hours after Erza, Cana and Lucy arrived at Fairy Tail-**

* * *

The guild was tense with silence, many people had headed home though, after hearing a tired Wendy state that Lucy was perfectly fine, just sleeping off the blood loss she had suffered. But many had also stayed. Mirajane had stayed longer than she normally would, serving the haggard people who were waiting for news of their Celestial mage, including the two who had brought her home.

"Why weren't we there?" Erza asked to empty air, slamming a gauntleted fist onto the bar top, metres down from where a quiet Mirajane was serving an equally silent Levy. "We could've stopped the mo-!"

"Erza!" Snapped Cana as she downed mouthful, after mouthful of ale from a barrel. "Stop it!" She slammed the barrel onto the ground and slid out closer to Erza's left, gripping the red head's shoulder in support. "Lucy was simply forgetful, and we had been doing the same exercise for nearly two months! Of course someone was going to get slack after a while! It's just that Lucy was the unlucky person…"

Erza looked gratefully up to Cana before relaxing her tense posture and pulling her hand out of the bar's woodwork, splinters clattering to the floor as she did so. "Where's Natsu? Gray?"

"Both of them are in with Lucy," interjected Mirajane, scrubbing down the right-side of the bar. "You know Natsu hasn't left her the whole time, and Gray said something about not trusting Natsu to take care of her on her own." She gave a tired giggle, reminiscent of her usual fervour, before she turned with a smile to her sister who came asking when she was coming home.

"I'm going to go and check on her again," announced Erza, pushing her stool away from the bar so she could stand up. "Cana?"

"I'm coming," the drunkard grumbled, standing up to follow Erza to the guild's own medical bay. "But if she doesn't wake up in the next ten minutes, I'm going home. I'm exhausted. _And_," Cana frowned grumpily to herself as she and Erza headed for the medical bay door. "We didn't even get the reward money!"

Erza led the way into the medical bay, stone walls and sterile floors greeting them. "We can get it at a later time or have the mayor send it, there is no hurry, Cana."

"I want that money though," whined Cana slightly.

Ignoring the whinging brunette, Erza stalked past to approach the small bed that contained their friend.

Lucy looked incredibly small as she lay peacefully underneath white sheets, like she was sleeping. You wouldn't have thought she was injured, if it weren't for the heavily bandaged arm that was sitting on top of the sheets, standing out with its tints of red that dappled the textured surface here and there.

"How is she?" Erza's question was directed towards the two boys that sat either side of the bed on small, metal chairs. Just sitting there, watching and observing.

"She's okay," Gray divulged, shifting in his seat before standing up, crossing his arms over his bare chest as he did so. "Still sleeping."

"Gray," Cana walked over to slide smoothly into Gray's chair, claiming it as her own. "Your clothes."

The Ice mage merely blinked down at his bare chest before shrugging. He could find his clothes later.

Erza's gaze fell on the other occupant of the room, staring at Lucy's still form like looking away would make her disappear.

Natsu had been frantic when Lucy had come in, held in Loke's arms. He had promptly taken Lucy from Loke's arms and dragged Wendy into the medical bay, demanding that she fix Lucy right away. The little, blue-haired girl had, of course, but had informed the gathered Team Natsu and Cana that she couldn't do anything for the scars, and that she was sorry.

Both Cana and Erza had assured the girl that she had done well and that she could go home to rest, they would watch over their friend. Wendy had reluctantly agreed and bade them goodnight, wandering off with Carla (and Happy who had insisted on walking them home) to replenish her magic supply with sleep. It had taken around an hour to heal Lucy and they had arrived rather late in the afternoon, so it was hitting around seven when Wendy had left.

That had been three hours ago, and Natsu hadn't moved from his seat. Erza didn't know whether to be amused or worried for her teammate. His fondness was apparent for his partner, no fight could possibly take that away. So Erza couldn't help but wonder how he would react to Lucy waking up.

It would be interesting, that's for sure.

"We all know Lucy-chan's a heavy sleeper," said Cana a few minutes after quiet chatter between her and Gray. "So why don't I head home and you guys can decide whether or not you're going to head to bed as well." She stood up and stretched, her usual bra not doing much to hide her well-endowed chest. "I'll see you guys around, and just inform me when Lucy-chan gets better. I can't help but feel bad since she got injured on my watch…" Scruffing her hair, Cana went to leave, waving one of her hands in farewell.

"…Don't feel bad, Cana…"

There was a clamour at Lucy's whispered words, everyone (including the previously departing Cana) crowding around her bed and watching as she woke up with heavy blinks of tired brown eyes.

"Lucy?" Natsu's voice was first heard, the boy up out of his chair in order to scrunch his hands in the sheets beside Lucy's side. "How do you feel?"

"Like I've been mauled by a monster," she replied dryly, shifting her injured arm to get a feel of it. "Where am I?"

Smirking, Gray leaned in to poke Lucy on the forehead. "You're at the guild, sleeping beauty."

Brown eyes finally opened in consciousness, and Lucy stared up at one of her male teammates. "Gray?"

"The one and only," the male supplied, leaning back out of her space so that she could sit up. "You gave everyone a scare there."

Lucy sat up fully with the help of Erza, pillows propped up behind her by Cana. "I'm so sorry, Cana, Erza. I didn't even _think _about summoning a spirit when I began walking through the forest back to you guys. We had cleared so much of the forest that I thought…" The blonde trailed off helplessly, looking up with apologetic eyes to her two teammates of two months. "Forgive me."

"There's nothing to forgive," Cana said with a shrug. "You got the jump, that's all."

"I agree with Cana," inputted Erza. "You can hit me, Lucy, for failing my duty as team leader!"

Flustered slightly, Lucy shook her head venomously, but stopped when the room spun. "Uh…"

"Wendy said since you lost a lot of blood, you might get some spells of dizziness." Gray crossed his arms again and leant back on his heels. "So don't be a ditzy blonde and shake your head around like that, okay?"

A soft smile came across Lucy's face, and she slapped Gray with her uninjured arm half-heartedly. "Ass…"

Gray smirked back before noticing that a certain loudmouth hadn't spoke up at all, either than the first words Lucy had heard. Then, why was she ignoring him? She _still _couldn't be angry, could she? It seemed impossible (Lucy not the one to hold a grudge that long, just like Natsu, in fact), but Gray was sure if they left them alone…

"Well," he started, picking up his shirt that he had tossed over a nearby bed. "I'm heading off since you're all better now. Is anyone else heading off?" He caught Cana's eye and saw the same devious glint that she had whenever she was about to con one of the males of the guild into a drinking contest. She was definitely thinking what he was thinking.

"I'll head off, too," Cana agreed, walking around Lucy's bed to stand next to Gray. "You coming, Erza? I can't get in unless you give me the key."

Erza glanced up and nodded, "I'll be right behind you." As the other two headed off, sharing a secretive high five, Erza turned back to Lucy with a smile. "If you want, you can come and sleep at my place again." Her brown eyes flickered over to the still form of Natsu before locking back onto Lucy. "I don't mind."

"No." Natsu said shortly, chipping into the conversation. "She's coming back to her place. Where she belongs." There was no room for argument in his tone of voice, so Erza bowed her head in a sign of submission she rarely showed. "Okay, I will see you two shortly, I hope." She walked over to the door to the main hall in the guild, clanking with every step.

Lucy, who had been quiet in bewilderment at everyone's sudden disappearance, smiled back hesitantly. "Y-yeah. I'll try and get to the guild tomorrow."

Erza waved and walked out, the clanking of her armour dying away with every step.

An awkward silence fell over the medical bay as Lucy tried to look anywhere but at the other occupant of the room, and Natsu continued to stare solidly at her.

"You're not going to the guild tomorrow," Natsu spoke up. At seeing Lucy's face flush with anger and her mouth open to argue, he quickly spoke. "You're going to stay home and rest."

Lucy huffed at his solid words, and went to cross her arms and pout, but found the vague pain in her right arm spiking with a hidden rage. "Ow!"

Instantly, Natsu was standing up and hovering over her. "Are you okay, Lucy? Should I call for one of the other girls? Do you need me to go get Wendy?"

The tenseness was shattered by the Fire mage's words and Lucy couldn't help but giggle. 'How could I be scared that it would be awkward and angry between us? He's _Natsu_, the most reckless, idiotic, kindest person I know.'

At hearing Lucy giggle, Natsu relaxed slightly and scratched his head, embarrassed at his outburst. "So, do you want to head back to your place now? I mean, you don't have to, but-"

"I would be happy to go home, Natsu," smiled Lucy. "I've missed my bed."

"Who wouldn't?!" Grinned Natsu. "It's so comfy! And I had all to myself when you…were gone…" His grin faded as he spoke, and Lucy couldn't help but feel guilty.

"I'm sorry."

Natsu perked up at Lucy's quiet words. "What?"

"I'm sorry," Lucy repeated, clenching the sheets with her uninjured hand. "It was stupid to get angry over your words, you didn't mean anything by it, and…I overreacted, and then I got scared…" The girl gulped as she remembered fleeing from her nakama. "What I did was inexcusable. I left without a word and didn't resolve my mistakes." She chewed her bottom lip with her teeth, worrying it so that she wouldn't shed the tears that were currently warming her face. "I'm _so _sorry, Natsu."

She waited for the angry words she knew she deserved. She waited for Natsu to snap and fly off the hand, shouting about how stupid she had been and how she shouldn't be part of Fairy Tail if she would just leave her nakama. She waited…And waited…

"Luce."

The word was spoken with softness that the blonde hadn't expected, but she flinched all the same as she would if it was shouted.

An arm slipped around her and she was carefully pulled into a taunt chest, the familiar smell of ashes and flames themselves filling her nose. She smothered the urge to gape at the sudden action of companionship from Natsu. Although he was a physical person who often was in contact with his nakama (Lucy really couldn't remember a single day where he wasn't grasping her shoulder, or slinging his arm over them), he rarely ever initiated hugs.

"Natsu…" With her left arm, Lucy hugged her partner closer. "Thank you."

Those two words had so many meanings, and Natsu couldn't even begin to decipher them all.

She could've meant thank you, for him silently taking her apologies and returning them back. _But why wouldn't he?_

She could've said it, just for the action of hugging. _He would do it anytime she asked, no questions asked if she would just smile again._

It could've even been, for everything he had done. _He couldn't imagine what he had done to earn such a thank you. He was simply…Natsu._

And – although he didn't know it – that was what Lucy was thankful for.

Natsu was the one who had brought her to Fairy Tail, to her new life. He was the one who had done so many things to make her feel at home – _but was it home without her partner? – _and he had just…

Lucy had no words for how amazing a blessing Natsu was to her.

"Natsu," the blonde said into his chest, fanning the bare skin with her warm breath. "Let's go home."

* * *

The early morning sun wasn't the thing that had woken up Lucy. Nor was it the sounds of the outside world drifting through her open window. It was a combination of; heat, a sense of security, and a sharp throbbing pain in her arm.

Sleepily blinking her eyes open, Lucy took in the blurry view of her room before she noted that only one of her eyes was taking in any images.

"Eh?"

The thing that was blocking her left eye shifted, but Lucy was dragged with it, noting absently that she had something wrapped around her waist, trapping her to whatever was blocking her sight.

"You up, Luce?"

A flush worked its way up Lucy's face, and she felt her face burn with mortification as she realised that she was snuggled up against her partner, his left arm curled around her body in order to pull her closer to his chest.

Thinking quickly, Lucy pretended to shift and made small noises, as if she was only just waking up and was yet to realise that she was _in bed with Natsu!_

(Not that it was very unusual as the Dragon Slayer often snuck into her bed, but he had never _snuggled _or _cuddled _with her!)

"Luuuucccyyyyy~!" Natsu was now calling her and shaking her softly. "Wake up, Lucy! C'mon, lazy bones! Up and at 'em!"

"No, Natsu. Sleeping." Lucy muttered, trying very hard to pretend that she wasn't going to combust into flames of horror and embarrassment.

"No, Lucy! It's time to wake up! I'm hungry!"

"Aye!"

At the new voice, Lucy's eyes snapped open to see a grinning, blue face pressed up against her own. "Happy?!"

The cat moved back slightly, floating with his white wings. "Aye! Who else would it be?"

Trying to sit up and finding that Natsu's arm was _still _around her waist, and that her arm was _still _very much injured, Lucy did something that she was rather good at.

Scream.

The sudden, high-pitched (painfully so) noise startled Natsu who let go of Lucy in favour of throwing his arms up and trying to move away. His head thumped into the windowsill, and he nursed it before looking grumpily at Lucy whose scream slowly petered out. "What the hell was that for, Luce?"

The blonde nursed her right arm as she glared at Natsu, ignoring the wail of Happy who had tumbled off the bed. "Who said you could sleep in my bed, Natsu?!"

"You did!" He argued back, sitting up, the pink covers of Lucy's bed tangling around his legs. "Don't you remember? Last night, when we got back here, you asked me to stay. And then when I got into bed, you didn't argue back!"

"What?!" Squeaked Lucy, blushing a bright red, even as she tugged the covers up over her incredibly loose, black shirt – _Was this one of Natsu's?!_ "No way! Why would I let _you_ sleep here?"

A look of hurt crossed Natsu's face, and Lucy instantly felt bad. "Oh, I didn't mean it like that, Natsu. I was just surprised to see you here. I don't really remember anything of last night, after we walked back from the guild.

Natsu brightened up and grinned happily at Lucy. "That's okay, Luce! Happy joined us last night and slept here as well, you didn't mind him sleeping her either."

Lucy wanted to argue that Happy was a _cat, _and that he didn't go around _hugging unsuspecting people in his sleep_, but she bit her tongue and stayed silent. She didn't want to hurt her friends feelings any more than she already had.

"I'm just glad you're feeling better!" Natsu continued before his smile died down and he peered at her anxiously. "_Are_ you alright? And don't lie to me, Luce, I don't like it when you lie. And you're bad at it anyways."

Cringing slightly, Lucy looked away from her partner in order to inspect her arm, not noticing Happy scrambling up onto the bed and plopping tiredly onto the covers where her feet were situated. "Um, it stings a little, but I don't think it's too bad." She tugged at the bandages that were coating her arm, slightly sloppy, but not too bad. "Did you bandage them last night?"

Scratching his cheek bashfully, Natsu nodded. "Yeah, I did. They're not too bad, are they?"

"No," Lucy responded quickly to reassure him. "I was just wondering if I should take them off. I don't think I can take a shower with these on." She studied the arm as she threw back the covers and slid out of bed, smiling slightly at Happy's muffled protests as he got buried in the pink blankets.

Natsu shrugged before scrambling off the bed to follow Lucy, feet thumping on the ground behind her. "So, are you taking a shower now?"

Lucy hummed in answer, rummaging through her chest-of-draws to find some casual clothing to wear. "Yeah, I feel kind of gross. And it's been two months since I last used a real shower. Washing in the stream really isn't the same."

"But that's what me and Natsu do," said Happy from the bed. "What's wrong with that?"

Lucy rolled her eyes to herself as she went to open her bathroom door, clothes clenched in her left hand. She went to open the door, but found her one good arm currently full. Staring at the blank door with equally blank eyes, Lucy cursed her luck.

"Lucy, are you okay?"

"Yeah, Lucy, who stares at doors like that?"

Growling in her throat from Happy's teasing remark, Lucy whirled around with a glare on her face. "Shut up, you damn cat!"

"Waahh!" Happy burbled, sprouting wings in order to glide from Lucy's bed to Natsu's hair. "Lucy's such a meanie!"

Natsu patted his partner soothingly, "yeah, she can be a real meanie sometimes, pal."

At those words, Lucy relaxed her angry stance. "Sorry, Happy, I didn't mean to be mean."

Blinking at the unusual reaction, Happy flapped off Natsu's head in order to share a confused look with his best friend.

Natsu turned back to his favourite blonde to see her dropping her clothes carelessly to the ground (something she would never usually do), in order to open her bathroom door. Her bandaged right arm swung uselessly at her side, the fabric teasing him with its blankness. "Hey, Lucy."

The blonde stiffened after she followed her kicked clothes into her bathroom. "Yeah?"

"You can't shower if you only have one arm, you weirdo." Natsu wrinkled his nose at her, his expression slightly grim, but still retaining its joking features.

Lucy grimaced in return, eyes flicking to her useless arm. "I'll manage."

"You can't take a shower unsupervised," began Natsu stubbornly, crossing his arms to emphasis his current emotion. "So me and Happy will have to watch you shower. To make sure you don't fall or injure yourself, or something."

Lucy's face blossomed into a lovely tomato. "W-WHAT?! WATCH ME?!"

"Yeah," inputted Happy, "it's for your own good, Lucy. We'll just sit inside the bathroom and watch you."

The blonde clutched her right hand close to her chest protectively. "THE HELL YOU WILL!"

"Fine," Natsu rolled his eyes and uncrossed his arms, "you can just keep the door open."

A wordless shriek escaped Lucy's mouth and she slammed the bathroom door, cutting off their view of her and rattling the walls.

Happy and Natsu shared confused looks before shrugging at the girls actions. And Lucy wondered why they thought she was weird…

Inside the bathroom, Lucy was standing stock-still, panting slightly as she leant with her good hand against the bathroom door. The nerve of him! Asking so casually to perve on her! She out to…

The anger died down and the blonde slumped tiredly, left arm dropping to her side. She shouldn't be angry at him, not after being so rude. Nope. After today, she would try and be as nice as she could to Natsu, and by default, Happy, since he was as much her partner as the Fire mage.

A soft groan escaped her lips as she straightened up and turned around to have a nice shower. Normally she would enjoy a bath, but she didn't feel like lazing around in the water, she felt like having spray hitting her face and waking her up (not like she wasn't already hyperaware of everything after the amount of blood rushing to her head this morning).

Struggling to undress with one arm, Lucy tugged off her black t-shirt – she was pretty damn sure this was one of Natsu's that he had left here one night – and accompanying pink shorts – had Natsu changed her?! Her face flushed once more and she decided to focus on unwrapping her arm to take her mind off it.

Gritting her teeth in preparation of any pain, Lucy untucked the end of the bandage that was situated up near her shoulder and began to slowly unravel it. When it reached her elbow, she hesitated.

Although she had full trust in Wendy's capabilities, she couldn't help but fear of the damage that had been inflicted on her arm.

Would there be scars?

Screwing her face up in determination – Fairy Tail mages didn't run from fear! – Lucy unravelled the bandages to reveal a slightly bloody, thin red line that curved across the crook of her elbow to her underarm.

Almost reverently, she traced the slightly raised line, marvelling at how healed it already was. Sure, if she applied any more pressure, the small layer of scab that had formed would break and release a torrent of blood, but Wendy had done a remarkable job and Lucy couldn't be more thankful.

Cheered by this good development, Lucy flicked around her left hand to take off the bandages faster. Another, slightly deeper and wider scab was revealed, slashing across her pale forearm. She cringed at the mark, knowing that it would be more obvious than the last one, but continued to take off the bandages.

But when she passed her wrist, she had to stop in horror.

Her mark. Her guild mark. The beloved pink Fairy Tail mark that signified who she was – Lucy of Fairy Tail! Not Lucy Heartifilia! – had a thick, angry, ropey scar through it. The scar came from the sharp jut of her wrist to the base of her thumb. It went right through the guild mark, entering by the 'belly' of the fairy and joining its wings in a large sweep.

"Oh no…" She moaned before shutting her mouth with a click, not wanting her sharp-eared teammate to be worried.

"Luce?"

Speak of the devil…

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she replied, marvelling at how steady her voice was. "Just realised that I have no clue where my bags with my clothes are. I'm pretty sure I left them at the forest." As she spoke, she pulled off the last of the bandage with a vicious tug before throwing it over with her clothes.

"Oh, yeah!" Came Natsu's excited cry from right outside her door (Lucy could only pray that he wasn't going to come barging in). "Cana said that she got your bags from that pink-haired spirit of yours. Marco or something."

"Virgo," Lucy heard Happy correct. "It's really not that hard.

"Hey!" Lucy sighed at Natsu's angry shout before approaching the shower, determined to get cleaned up. She drowned out the muffled shouts and thumps from outside her door with the constant spray of warm water, carefully stepping into the blissful heat so as to not get her right arm wet.

She spent nearly half an hour under the spray; alternately cleaning herself and staring down at her new scars.

When she finally stepped out, Lucy felt invigorated and like she could maybe handle all of the curveballs that life had been chucking at her recently.

"Are you done yet, Luce? Me an' Happy are hungry!"

"Aye!"

Lucy tripped slightly as she pulled on a pair of jeans, "j-just a second!" Se hurriedly pulled up her pants and fastened her belt with her keys and whip hanging of it before tugging on a plain red t-shirt with stars embodied on it.

After hesitating and realising that Natsu would freak out if he saw her scars, Lucy wrapped the bandages back around her arms, fiddling with the end with her one arm. Several moments passed before she threw her left arm up in anger and irritation. "I'll never fix it!"

There was a rattling and Natsu poked his head through the now-open door. "Fix what?"

Lucy screamed slightly and whirled around, chest heaving in surprise. "D-don't just barge in! What if I was getting changed?!"

Natsu shrugged before slipping in, "so what?"

Honestly, Lucy thought Natsu could be the densest person in the world at times. Most times, actually.

Lucy breathed out through her nose before turning away and fiddling with the tail of the bandage, trying (fruitlessly) to tuck the end in with one hand.

"What's wrong, Luce?" Natsu padded over to peer over the blonde's shoulder to see her struggling with her bandages. "Do you want me to help?"

Lucy's first instinct was to decline (she could do it herself, damn it!), but she found herself nodding and offering her arm up to Natsu.

'I seriously sound like I'm sacrificing my arm…'

Natsu's warm hands brushed Lucy's shoulder as he reached for the bandage, and couldn't help but notice that she was stronger than before. He could see the definition of her arms and legs that weren't there before, even if her legs were currently covered by long pants.

That was something that had also changed, Natsu had noted, as he tucked the end of the bandage in firmly. Lucy was wearing long pants, a modest shirt and had done nothing with her hair. Not even blow-dried it, simply letting it naturally dry, which was something that Natsu rarely ever saw.

Just how much had she changed in two months?

Pulling himself out of his thoughts, Natsu found that his hands was still resting on Lucy's shoulder and that she was steadily turning a darker shade of red.

"Oi," Natsu moved one of his hands to her forehead, noting at how hot she was. "You're not getting a fever, are you? Should I go get Wendy?"

Lucy opened her mouth to protest, but found herself beaten to the punchline by a giggling Happy.

"She liiiikeeees him~!"

"Shut up you damn cat!" Lucy twisted away from Natsu's grip, good arm thrust into the arm as she angrily chased after the smirking and teasing Happy through her apartment. "Get back here!"

Head cocked to the side, Natsu wondered at his teammate's odd mood swings. She could be happy one second, bashful the next. And then even angry or running a high fever.

Honestly, Natsu thought Lucy could be so weird sometimes. He watched as Lucy jumped up on her bare feet, arm grasping uselessly for a floating Happy.

Most times, actually.

* * *

**This chapter is done and literally nothing has happened.**

**Honestly, I feel disappointed in myself.**

**But, there was no fight and there was a sort of Natsu and Lucy friendship going down which is always great to have.**

**Although they seem perfectly fine and it's like nothing has happened, there **_**will **_**still be some conflicts and major differences in the future. Lucy is stronger and Natsu will probably realise his feelings for her quicker.**

**As they say; you never know how much you love something until it's gone!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello, hello, hello!**

**I've really got nothing to say either than thank you for your support and I hope you're having a lovely day (or night)!**

* * *

**Disclaimer: **_Me owning Fairy Tail would be less likely to come true than me being part of Fairy Tail_

**Warning: **_Language…?_

* * *

**Lucy P.O.V.**

So, apparently, I was having a lazy day.

Don't get me wrong, I love those days where I get to laze around until noon, maybe have some breakfast in bed, and then possibly write a chapter to whatever story I was working on then. But after spending two months of getting up early and going straight into a routine of clearing out monsters with a couple of breaks in between, I was way too wired to simply lie in my bed and stare at the roof.

And it especially didn't help that a certain Dragon Slayer kept fussing over me and getting _way _to close for comfort.

"Luce, are you okay?" Natsu asked me for what seemed the fiftieth time that morning. Yesterday – the day that I had discovered my scars and woken up next to Natsu – both he and I had been somewhat busy getting all my stuff back into my apartment and just generally mucking around. But today, seemingly randomly, Natsu had decided that, yes, I was injured very badly. And, no, I wasn't allowed out of the apartment in case I got injured again.

How the hell was I meant to get injured going for some bread in the morning?!

So, as you can see, my predicament is pretty stressful right now. I have one fussy, messy, all-consuming Dragon Slayer currently bunking at my place; _in my bed no less! _And one blue furred, chatty, annoying flying cat buzzing around and adding to the chaos.

No wonder why Natsu thought something was wrong; I was nearly tearing my hair out in frustration.

"I'm fine, Natsu," I bit out, saying the exact same thing I had said _fifty times before! _"Why don't you-" I had to close my eyes and shut my mouth with a click in order to not say something that I would regret.

Natsu didn't seem to share my current predicament, and tilted his head curiously across my kitchen table where I had set up camp for the past hour. "What were you going to say, Luce?"

Shaking my head, I placed down my mug of hot chocolate that I had been nursing – also – for the past hour. It was stone-cold. "It's nothing, Natsu, don't worry about it."

It didn't seem to deter my partner, who only leant forward with a slight frown playing across his childish face. "Anything that worries you, worries me. Okay? So you can tell me anything, Luce. After all," he shot me his trademark smile, eyes squinted and canines bared. "What are best friends for?"

The anger and irritation of my day seemed to wash away with that comment. He hadn't said friends, he said _best _friends. We were still close! Everything wasn't screwed up between us!

Okay, so I may have lied at the beginning. Majority of my stress hadn't _really _come from being cooped up in an apartment, unable to do anything – although that played a large part. You can only read books for so long – it was more being cooped up with only my thoughts to keep me company in the silence between Natsu's chatter. Thoughts of how I had screwed up, how I could've done reacted better, what if I hadn't said that…but worst of all, how did Natsu feel? About us, I mean.

Were we still friends? Nakama until the end?

I gave Natsu a smile, slightly tired, but still there. "Thanks, Natsu, you don't know what that means to me."

His grin remained bright and he gave me a thumbs-up, onyx eyes flashing happily. "Don't mention it! I know exactly what it means; we're nakama and that's how it'll always be!"

There was a dull throb as my heart continued to beat, but I ignored that in favour of simply nodding and smiling. Just as Fairy Tail taught me to do when things were odd.

The sound of my front door slamming open interrupted our moment and I instantly turned to yell at whoever had so rudely entered. I knew it wasn't Happy (he usually entered through the window like Natsu and he was currently off at the guild for reasons he wouldn't say), but I still wasn't as surprised as I should've been when I saw Gray, Erza and Wendy standing in the doorway.

Both Gray and Erza instantly entered, acting as casually as they would as if it was their own home – and with the amount of times they've been here; sleeping over, breaking in, hanging out; I think they spend as much time here as they do at their homes – Wendy, on the other hand, lagged behind slightly, looking extremely apologetic when she crept inside timidly.

I smiled kindly at her before addressing my welcome to her and Carla, who came floating in after Wendy, never too far behind.

"Hello, Lucy," came the quiet reply as Wendy brushed past Erza to stand in front of me. "How is your arm?"

"A-Okay!" I replied cheerfully, sticking out my bandaged arm for inspection. "The healing salve you gave me works wonders, Wendy! You're amazing!"

A light blush lit up the girls face and she mumbled a humble thanks in reply.

"Wendy!" The exasperated shout came from Carla. "Stop being so meek and hold your head up high! You know you did well, so you should take your thanks gracefully." The little, white exceed looked at me, her normally stoic face softened slightly. "Wendy was being ever so fretful last night and the night before over your injuries, I'm glad you're okay."

Smiling even wider, I patted Wendy on the head and gave her a quick hug. "Thanks for being so concerned, Carla, Wendy. I really appreciate all that you've done for me."

The girls reply was drowned out by Gray's boisterous shout. "Hey! Lucy! We were worried about you, too!" I turned to the Ice mage who had somehow lost his shirt at some point in entering my apartment. "Gray! Put some clothes on before you talk to me!" He gave a startled shout and began to search for his shirt that was currently slung halfway out my open window.

Natsu snickered from his seat, arms crossed comfortably across his bare chest. "Tch, that's so like you Ice Princess. Always stripping in the worst of places."

I could already see what would happen next, as Gray turned around with a scowl on his face. Luckily, Erza was here to stop any fighting that threatened to break out in my (strangely – maybe Natsu had been eating from my fridge a lot while I was gone?) clean kitchen.

"I hope you two aren't arguing," the Titania said plainly, evil eye directed on both Natsu and Gray.

"N-no, ma'am!" Somehow Natsu had managed to get across the kitchen and throw his arm around and trembling Gray in a matter of seconds, trembling right alongside him. "We're best buds! We would never fight!"

"A-aye!" Gray stuttered right beside him, sweat dripping down his face. "Best pals!"

"Good," Erza said, face softening. "Friends shouldn't fight." She nodded to herself, pleased about stopping any fights, before facing to me. "How are you, Lucy?" She swept past Wendy to claim Natsu's seat, pretending that she hadn't heard the slight squeak of protest that came from Natsu's mouth.

"I'm okay, Erza," I replied, pulling out a seat for Wendy with my good arm, smiling when the girl sat down beside me. "It doesn't even hurt anymore, and-"

"I've been taking good care of her!" I felt an arm sling itself over my shoulder and instantly stiffened from the heated contact. Natsu – that oblivious idiot – continued on, unconcerned. "Lucy'll be perfectly fine as long as I'm around!"

A shameful thought of _I was fine without you being near _brushed against me, but I quickly quashed it, not wanting such horrible thoughts to ruin my friendship with Natsu again. Thinking quickly, I shoved Natsu's arm off me with a huff, pointing my nose up in the way I used to. "I think I know how to take care of myself, Natsu!"

"But, Luce," he whined, giving me that piteous look of his that I normally fell for. "Don't you like having me around?"

Internally wincing at what he was (unknowingly) implying _– aren't we friends, Luce? Don't you like being friends with me, Luce? Are you sure you want to stay at Fairy Tail, Luce? _– I gave a soft sigh and patted his rosy hair softly. "It's not that, Natsu, I'm just…I can take care of myself, you know? I feel…" I trailed off, searching for the words I needed. "I just feel so _useless _when I'm not taking care of things myself." I looked hopefully at Natsu, hoping beyond all hope that he didn't take any offense to my words and everything would go crashing down again.

Natsu put on a thoughtful expression, and I knew that would last for a while, so I turned to Gray who had dropped down into my last free chair, lounging with only his boxers on. "So what brings you guys here? _Not like you ever have an excuse every other time…_" I mumbled the last part, knowing that only Wendy had heard me by her giggles.

"Of course!" Erza suddenly burst out of her chair, clenching her fist and nearly scaring Wendy and I out of our chairs.

"Of course, what?" I asked when I finally steadied myself and Carla had pulled an embarrassed Wendy back into her chair.

"I had forgotten the reason for our visit." Erza dropped to her knee in front of me, making me stutter with surprise. "Please, Lucy, punish me for forgetting such important information!"

"What important information?" I asked with exasperation tinting my voice. Didn't anyone say anything directly anymore?

"The S-class exams," said Gray casually, "they're being held in a week. They announced the competitors today."

I blinked before realisation dawned on me. The S-class exams; they were held once a year to decide who became the newest S-class mage(s) of Fairy Tail. Cana and Erza had told me of them while we were on our job. Erza had spun a great tale of what her battles had been like and I had been shocked to hear that Cana had been competing in the exams for several years. She had never won, but she had come damn close a fair few times and had versed all of the greatest names of our guild.

"Really?!" I finally asked, excitement coursing through me. "Well, who got in? Where's it being held?"

"Yeah!" Natsu chipped in, excited about the prospect of going up against the people he longed to fight. "I'm in, aren't I!" He tugged on his scarf, looking very assured of himself. "I bet I did."

Rolling my eyes, I nudged him in the side with my elbow, smiling mischievously when he turned to me. "What if you don't get in? What if-"

"Lucy!" Natsu yelled, looking shocked. "How could you doubt me like that?!"

I giggled slightly, covering my mouth with my hands. "It's quite easy, really." Natsu wilted at my comment and I turned with bright eyes to Erza for confirmation on who had got in. "Erza, do you mind putting Natsu here out of his misery?"

With a trace of amusement in her eyes, Erza obliged. "Well, the S-class participants are; Juvia Lockser…"

I let a smile cross my face at that. Juvia deserved to get a chance to compete, she was a true Fairy Tail mage through and through, and this would be a great chance to prove that to anyone who doubted her.

"Elfman Strauss…"

Elfman? A little bit surprising, but who was I to judge? His strength was amazing and he had become even stronger after overcoming the trauma with Lisanna at Phantom Lord, mastering his Beast Soul full transformation.

"Freed Justine."

Oh, I didn't really know of Freed, but I knew he was a lovely, courteous man. He also deserved a chance to redeem himself after the whole Fantasia incident. He wasn't a bad person, he was just looking out for his friend; Laxus.

"Mest."

Mest? Who was Mest? Then, a hazy memory of a dark-haired man with scars on his face swam into view. What was his magic again? When did I meet him? The rest of the information I needed about him was swimming just out of my reach and I tried to grab at it, but my mind swam in dizzying ripples, so I reluctantly gave up. But rest assured, I would be trying to remember more about Mest later. I found it was rather impolite to not know about your nakama.

"Levy McGarden…"

I let out a squeal and pumped my good arm. Normally I would've clasped my hands together, but I had made the mistake of doing that yesterday and had paid the price in a massive dose of pain. "Levy-chan made it?! Amazing!"

"What!" The shout came from Natsu. "If Levy's made it, then I definitely have!"

My eyes narrowed and I looked at Natsu sharply. "What's that supposed to mean, Natsu?"

"Yes, Natsu," came the cold tone of Erza. "What _does _that mean?"

At the duel-glare from me and Erza, Natsu began to sweat bullets and I heard a low whistle come from Gray from beside me. "Oh man, you're _so _screwed now, Flame-brain."

"N-nothing!" Squeaked Natsu, throwing his arms up in surrender. "Absolutely nothing!"

"Good," was all I said before my expression brightened and I eagerly waited for Erza to continue the names of the S-class participants. I was eager, mainly, because I wanted to know of who of my brave nakama had managed to make it, but there was also a lingering longing of my name being called and I get a chance to prove myself to my nakama.

To Natsu.

"Well," Erza began, thinking over who came next. "Gray here made it," she gestured to the smug looking Ice mage who smirked wider at Natsu's disbelieving look. "Yeah, that's right, fanged-wonder, I'm in the S-class exams."

Natsu let out a low growl and stamped his foot. "That's it! If that stripper is in the exams, then I definitely am!"

"Oh yes," agreed Erza simply, "you're in the exams."

The smile on my face grew wider and I waited for the inevitable response that would come from my partner. And, sure enough, light dawned in his eyes and he let out a joyful whoop before bouncing around my apartment in his excitement.

"Congratulations, Natsu," I shouted over his yells of victory. "But don't you dare think about lighting anything on fire in my apartment!" The Dragon Slayer obligingly shut his steaming mouth that threatened to lit one of my couches on fire, before it snapped open barely a second later and he continued to crow at the top of his lungs.

Shaking my head at his antics, I looked back at Gray with a smile and congratulated him on his entrance into the exams. He looked surprised, but thanked me shortly after, looking mightily pleased with himself.

"Are there any more participants?" I asked Erza curiously. I still held onto a sliver of hope that _I _had been accepted into the exams and would be competing with my nakama, but there was a larger part of me that reprimanded me for being so self-centred in my friend's time of joy.

There was another part that whispered darkly that _I was too weak to compete_, but I pushed those thoughts away and kept up my sunny look as I waited for Erza's answer.

The red-haired girl nodded and I couldn't help the small lurch of excitement that bubbled up my chest. "Who is it?"

"Cana got in again," Erza said, unknowingly shattering my dream. "Isn't that great, Lucy? She gets another chance." Erza was looking at me expectantly, so, almost like a switch had been flicked on, my face lit up in one of my brightest smiles. "Yeah! That's great for Cana!"

_Real great. She gets, what, four or five chances? And what does little Lucy get? None, that's what. She's too weak to compete. She can't compete to prove her worth because everyone already knows she's weak._

My smile didn't waver as I nodded enthusiastically, "I hope everyone goes well! Where's the exams at? Can I watch you guys compete?"

"The exams are held at Tenrō jima," supplied Gray. "It's a holy ground that can only be stepped upon by people with the Fairy Tail mark. The First Master's burial grounds are there as well. I've been once before and it's a massive island that always seems to be tropical. It's really warm there." Almost unconsciously, Gray began to tug at his pants, something that I studiously ignored so that I could gasp in awe and wonder.

Even through my disappointment, I could feel a sense of wonder at the images of a beautiful tropical island, hidden from everyone's sight and untouched by humans. It seemed wonderful. "Oh, this is great! That means I can watch you guys, right?" My left thumb rubbed against my bandaged right hand, guild mark hidden by the white cloth.

"You can only go if you're a partner to one of the competitors," Erza leant back in her chair, eyes looking outside my kitchen window. "There's no spectators."

At this, my heart simultaneously sank and rose. I glanced across to the pink-haired boy that was currently in my kitchen, waiting for the invitation that was _surely _going to come. We were partners, right?

Natsu clenched his right fist, flames escaping out of the appendage. "Awesome! I'm all fired up!" He started running out of the kitchen, and I already knew what was going to come next. My heart was already hurting, after all. Natsu turned with a grin and waved goodbye, "I'm going to go find Happy and tell him he's coming with me to the exams!" And with that, he leapt out of my window, my dream chasing after him.

"Tch, that idiot," Gray scoffed, but I couldn't tell what part Gray was scoffing at. The Ice mage stood up from his chair and stretched, showing off his toned stomach and dark boxers that were slipping lower every second.

"Gray," I said automatically, "clothes."

He let out a short yelp and went scrambling around for his clothes, knocking over some of my stuff as he went, but I couldn't bring myself to care. I suddenly felt so old in that instant.

"I should be going," Erza stood up as well, looking imposing in her usual armour. "Master wants me to help organise the exams."

"I'll see you later," my voice came out strong and unfazed, surprising me a bit. "Good luck, Erza."

The Re-quip mage simply waved a hand goodbye before heading for the door, pausing to ask Gray if he was leaving now.

The Ice mage stumbled up to her, clothes hanging out of his arms. "Yep, but I've just got to do something quickly." Gray looked to me as he hovered by my door, and in the instant that our eyes locked, I knew that he knew. His dark eyes looked at me sympathetically and with guilt.

What new joy was going to happen now?

"Lucy," Gray's voice was in his normal tone, but his eyes were still saying his apologies to me. "Do you reckon that I could have Loke as a partner? We kind of promised that if one of us was nominated to compete in the exams, the other would be their partner."

Instead of feeling disappointed again, I was strangely glad that Gray had asked this of me. I could tell that Loke occasionally missed his guild and his nakama, especially Gray as they were close. I felt happy that I could help both of them out here.

Rather than replying to Gray, I got up from my chair and went to my bedroom to grab my key pouch from my bed. Pulling out Loke's key as I entered the kitchen, I slashed through the air with the golden object and opened my most faithful spirit's gate.

A golden flash announced Loke's entrance and he stood there impressively, eyes already on me, not on his environment. "Are you okay, Lucy?"

Smiling at my lion, I waved off his worries. "I'm okay, Loke. Wendy here fixed me up right as rain." I gestured with my bandaged arm to the blue-haired girl who had been sitting at the kitchen table quietly the whole time we had talked about the exams, content to chat to Carla. At the mention of her name, Wendy looked up and quickly bowed her head to Loke. "Hello, Loke-san!"

Loke said a hello in reply, but his eyes were still trained on my bandaged arm.

Sneakily tucking the arm out of sight behind my back, I nudged Loke towards Gray who still stood in my doorway, arms full of his clothes. "Loke, I called you here so that Gray could talk to you." I wiggled my eyebrows as I pushed him along. "Something about an S-class exam?"

My spirit instantly brightened and took the last few steps towards Gray of his own accord. "Oh man, Gray, did you finally get accepted?" Loke held his arm out for a bro-fist, grinning all the while.

Gray dropped his clothes and his boxers in order to bump fists with Loke. "Yeah, you ready to be my partner?"

Loke laughed, "as long as Lucy says it's okay and you get some pants back on."

Both Loke and I snorted as Gray laughed nervously and struggled to pull his boxers back up, but I could hear Carla tsking to my right and Wendy whimpering. My own eyes were studiously averted as I answered Loke. "Loke, why would I summon you here if I didn't want you to compete with Gray?" I gave Loke another push with my good arm and began herding him and Gray out of my apartment. "Now, go have fun you two! And no more stripping in my apartment, Gray!" I heard a faint 'good bye!' from either Gray or Loke before I shut my door with a click.

A sigh followed soon after as I slid down the door, my back pressed against the cool timber. I was so, so tired right now.

"Lucy?"

My head bobbed up at Wendy's hesitant voice. "Yes?"

The small girl fiddled with her fingers as she stood in front of me, her chair neatly pushed in under the table. I was glad that at least _one _of my nakama was clean and caring about other people's stuff.

"Um, are you okay, Lucy?" Wendy continued. "I mean, not your injuries – but I'm also worried about that!" The girl flustered around a bit, looking adorable as she tried to decide what to say next. "But, um, a-are you okay? About the exams, I mean."

I mustered up a smile as I stood up, "of course, Wendy. Why wouldn't I be?"

There was a scoff from above me and I looked up to see Carla floating above me, face pulled tightly into a frown. "You may fool those idiotic friends of yours, but both Wendy and I are not so easily fooled." The cat fluttered back down to perch daintily on the kitchen table, her usual skirt and singlet ensemble immaculate compared to my messy t-shirt and sweats.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about," I hedged as I gestured for Wendy to take her seat again and I went searching for another mug to make Wendy a hot chocolate, and to possibly make myself another one that I would actually finish.

"Please," continued Carla scathingly, "that pink-haired idiot didn't choose you to be his partner, and now you're sad and angry. Again."

Flinching at how accurate Carla was, my hands shook as I turned my trusty kettle on and began to prepare the chocolate powder. "Why would you say that?"

"I can see it in your eyes, Lucy," Wendy said, her own large eyes on me. "I can also smell your disappointment and anger. You must be very hurt to be angry at Natsu-san," the girl trailed off.

Waiting for the water to boil, I looked at Wendy curiously. "What do you mean 'at Natsu?' What does that have to do with my level of anger?"

"You're obviously in love with the idiot," Carla sniped, "though I have no clue why."

"L-love!" I stuttered. "In love with Natsu?" I laughed nervously and began fiddling with the mugs, anxious for the kettle to finish boiling. "How could you lead to something like that?!"

"Carla's right," chipped in Wendy. "You're obviously in love with him." Her pale cheeks darkened slightly. "It's so r-romantic."

"Okay," I said, trying to act calmly. "We're not talking about…Natsu and I's….relationship anymore." I fixed up the two mugs of hot chocolate for Wendy and I as the kettle whistled and passed the girl her mug as I sat down.

As I took a large gulp of the chocolate goodness, ignoring the scalding pain, Carla decided to ignore my request and pursued the subject. "We will talk about it as long as you deny it and continue to hurt yourself." The white cat crossed her arms and glared determinedly at me. "You've already been badly hurt because he doubted you, and, now, he's forgotten you. I'm wondering how much pain you're in now." The exceed raised one thin eyebrow and that was all it took for me to crack.

"I feel like shit," I confided as I clutched my hot mug tightly with my good arm. "I mean, we go through that whole dilemma, and now he's gone and forgotten me. Just like that." I let go of the mug in order to comb through my loose hair shakily. "How do I react? What do I say when he comes running up to me, shoving the fact that _he _gets a chance to prove himself. _He _can prove how strong he is, not like anyone doubts _him._" I knew my voice was bitter, but I couldn't bring myself to care anymore. Life was just too unfair!

"…Lucy." Carla's voice had softened and when I looked at her, her face had also softened. "No one in the guild doubts your strength."

"No, Lucy!" Wendy leaned forward across the table to grasp my good hand with her two small ones. "You're amazing! You're so strong for being able to still smile."

"Smile?" I asked. "What about my smile?"

Wendy blushed slightly and averted her gaze from my eyes. "Well, Mirajane-san has told me of what happened with Phantom Lord, and…"

My eyes closed as I remember that horrible episode where everything was _my _fault and I was too _weak._ That time of my life at Fairy Tail wasn't one of my more favoured.

"You were so strong to smile and to forgive, Lucy." Wendy's hands tightened around mine and I found her eyes locked back onto mine. "To have…no mother of your own left, to have your own father turn on you like that…it's amazing that you could still smile through your pain, forgive those that have wronged you so badly, and forget about your past troubles." Wendy's voice sounded sincere as she finished. "That's what I admire about you so much, Lucy. You're one of the bravest people I know."

A sniffle escaped me and I wiped at my watery eyes with my limp, bandaged hand. "But I'm not _strong_, Wendy. I'm a dead weight on missions. Erza, Gray and Natsu always have to save me. And Natsu was right when he said I hide behind my spirits; it's true, that's all I can do." I broke off into a choking sob before biting down hard on my bottom lip to not let another one out. "All I can do is run and hide, like the scared little girl I am." I pulled my hand from Wendy's grip and covered my eyes with it, well aware that the other was hanging by my side.

Useless, just like me.

"No, Lucy!" The shout from Wendy startled me and I uncovered my eyes to see what she was so upset about. I was surprised to see the normally shy girl slamming her hands down on the table and her face uncharacteristically serious. "Lucy, you are not weak! If you're scared, that just shows that you are human, not a pathetic person! You're one of the bravest people I've ever met, and I'm not lying or exaggerating! You're a Fairy Tail mage, and that means you're not just strong physically, but emotionally!"

"Wendy's right," remarked Carla. "If you were weak, then you wouldn't have done half the stuff you've already done."

My voice quivered as I spoke. "But if I'm so strong, then I wouldn't get injured all the time. I wouldn't have Natsu jumping in front of me to deflect attacks or picking me up since I'm too slow to dodge any attacks." I looked distastefully at my injured arm, dragging it up to place it on the table. "If I was strong, then I wouldn't have _this._"

"But it will be healed, Lucy," Wendy lay her hand on my injured one. "Once it's healed, you won't remember the pain from it, and you'll be healed emotionally. You don't have to remember every mistake you've ever made, just how to go on from there."

"You don't understand, Wendy," I growled as I shook her hand off to start unravelling the bandages. "_I won't ever heal from this._ It's already made its mark." The claw marks on my arm and hand was revealed, specifically, the one cutting straight through my guild mark. "Something this deep will never heal."

A sharp intake of breath came from Wendy before she carefully grabbed my injured hand. "Oh, Lucy, I'm so sorry that I haven't healed it properly! I'm so sorry! It's all my fault!"

"Wendy," I cut across gently, "it's not your fault. It's my fault for being unaware and getting injured, you're nowhere near in fault for healing my arm to the best of your ability."

The blue-haired girl ignored me, her hands starting to glow a little as she channelled her healing magic to her hands. I was going to protest against her actions, but a soothing sensation washed over my hand and up my arm, relieving a burning feeling I didn't realise was there. Wendy continued to heal me for another minute, none of us talking during that time. As the glow died around Wendy's hands, I pulled my arm back to me to see what had happened to it.

The skin, rather than being the slightly irritated red that it had been for the last two days, was clear and its usual colour. The shallowest of the three cuts looked like it had been healing for a week already and the scab on it looked neater than before. The next cut also looked like it had been healing for a while, and looked less thick. But the last one, the one that was on my hand and marring my guild mark, was still as deep and as red as ever. Obviously a week wouldn't even begin to heal it.

"Thanks Wendy," I said quietly before beginning to wrap my arm up again. "But you didn't need to."

"I'll do it every day until you're all healed," declared the girl in answer. "There's no way I'm going to let you keep bad memories like that branded into you."

I simply gave her a watery smile before picking up my mug of hot chocolate and taking a sip. Wendy followed suit and we both sat there, quietly drinking our hot chocolate and studiously ignoring the fact that my scars would never fully heal.

* * *

I heaved out a sigh at the quiet of my apartment. It was…_odd_ to have nobody in my apartment, or near me. With Cana and Erza, we were almost always together, or I had one of my spirits near me, so no one would be caught unaware by a monster. _Not like that helped me. _And since I had come back to Fairy Tail, Natsu and Happy had been with me all the time. Even today, my team had come over for a while, and Wendy and Carla had managed to stay most of the afternoon.

It was nice to have someone quiet and polite in my house, both Carla and Wendy respected my privacy and didn't mind the silence that I enjoyed. Natsu always broke the silence in under a minute with some sort of stupid comment, or by breaking something of mine. Neither Carla nor Wendy broke a single thing of mine, and Wendy was happy to read some books of mine and listen to some stories of my time at Fairy Tail. The girl was so sweet and nice, I always imagined this is what it was like to have a little sister.

Though, every time I thought of a younger sister, a hazy memory tried to surface, but I never quite caught it, just like the incident with Mest. I had asked Wendy about the man who was competing in the exams, and she said that she only could remember a few things about the mage. It was true that she shouldn't remember much about him, as she is the newest member of Fairy Tail, but it still put me on edge and I was determined to investigate him a bit more at a later date.

But, now that my apartment was quiet, I decided that I would like to take a shower. I felt tired and nothing perked me up more than having a scalding hot shower. Maybe afterwards I would simply jump into bed. I felt like an early night was needed after Natsu and Happy kept me up last night with their infernal chatter.

Stripping as I walked into the bathroom, I chucked my casual clothes to the side of my living room, reminding myself to put them in the wash later, but then carefully placed my folded bandages on the floor beside them. Stretching my back, I headed into the bathroom to start the hot shower.

Upon turning it on, I sat on the edge of the bathtub as I waited for the shower to heat up (the plumbing here could be _awful _at times).

I had been forgotten. It was simple, really. For all his density, I still held onto the hope that Natsu thought of me…_specially. _Like I meant something to him. He was the one who brought me to Fairy Tail, befriended me and brought me on adventures. We were best friends, partners and nakama, but apparently that wasn't enough to be remembered. He chose Happy over me, and that thought itself was stupid. Natsu had been with Happy for _years _before I even came into the scene, so, really, this whole thought process was stupid and irrational.

_But it still __**hurt. **_

Rubbing my eyes tiredly, marvelling at how my right arm _actually _responded well to my commands, I stepped into the shower and then let myself be lost in the hazy heat and swirling steam that I loved so much.

It could've been a couple of minutes or an hour when I finally stepped out, but when I did, I wasn't alone anymore.

"Cana," I said simply as I stared at the brunette who was currently lounging in my bathtub, apparently having had drawn herself a bath.

"Hey, Lucy-chan," the girl replied with a slur muffling her words. "How's it goin'?"

"Fine," I replied, well aware that I had no towel around me and that Cana had somehow managed to shimmy her way through my bathroom window, strip, and then draw a bath without me noticing. Man, I must be tired if I didn't notice anything. "What are you doing here, Cana?"

The brunette shrugged, a sulky look on her face. "I dunno."

Closing my eyes for a moment in deliberation and opening them a second later, I quickly climbed into the bathtub and shoved Cana's legs towards her body, sitting with my knees to my chest opposite her, back against the porcelain curve of the bathtub. You might think it's a bit weird that I just climbed into a bathtub naked with a girl, but Cana and I had bathed together a lot in the river while on our mission, we had seen everything there was to see. "Cana, tell me what's wrong."

Cana flicked her hazy eyes up to me, peering through the steam of the hot water, before looking back down. "Why do you think that there's something wrong?"

"Well, for starters," I began. "You have yet to grope me or make a perverted comment, you always do that when we bath together. Two," I said over the beginning of Cana's sentence. "You're drunk, and not your usual happy drunk, but you're completely sloshed and looking like you're on the verge of tears drunk – which is something I've never seen before. You've also come to my apartment without waiting for me to get out of the shower, which means you urgently want company and that you trust me enough to turn to me for comfort. So, Cana," I leaned forward to look closely at my friend. "What's up?"

Cana let out a dry, humourless chuckle, "you're always so smart, Lucy-chan." Her face fell into a serious expression and she pulled her legs in close, wrapping her arms around her knees. "The S-class exam competitors have just been called, and you know how I told you that I'd been in them for the past couple of years?"

"I know that you're in again, Cana," I quickly said. "But something's different, isn't it?"

"Yeah…" Cana put her chin on her knees and looked at me, her eyes darkening. "I'm going to leave Fairy Tail if I don't become an S-class mage."

It took a moment for her words to sink in, but when they did, I abruptly stood up, not caring that I had just sloshed water all over my bathroom floor. "What?! No, Cana! You can't leave Fairy Tail! It's your home! It's-"

"It's my decision, Lucy-chan," Cana retorted, averting her gaze. "And I say that if I want to leave, then I'm going to leave."

I scowled down at the girl before getting out of the water with a splash. "I know that there's a motive behind this, Cana." I wrapped a towel around myself before grabbing another one and holding it out to Cana. "But before we get into that; you're going to get out of that bath, get dry, change into warm clothes, I'm going to make you a tea, and you're going to have a sleepover. While you're here, maybe you'll tell me what's troubling you."

My friend looked at me with a stunned expression before she smiled and slowly clambered out of the tub. She took the towel from me gratefully and wrapped it around her, shivering against the chill of the tile floor.

I grabbed her hand with my good one and slowly led her out of the bathroom and towards my chest-of-draws, tugging out two sets of warm pyjamas to wear.

"Thanks, Lucy-chan," Cana said as she pulled on a pair of blue silk pyjama pants over her underwear. "You're such a mothering type."

I managed to smile at her before my head disappeared into the pink pyjama top that matched her own. Popping my head out the top, I ruffled my wet hair with a wet towel before heading over to chuck our dirty clothes into the wash. "It's okay, Cana, I'm glad that I can help you. Sit down and I'll grab a cup of tea for us both, okay? And how about some dinner?"

"T-that'd be nice, Lucy-chan."

I smiled to myself as I busied myself with helping out my friend. It was amazing to be of use to your nakama, no matter how small the task is.

* * *

**3****rd**** Person P.O.V.**

"So," began Lucy as she stacked up the plates from the dinner that she and Cana had just finished. "Are you going to tell me about your decision to leave Fairy Tail and what it has to do with the S-class exams?"

Cana shifted uncomfortable on the cushion she was currently sitting on, legs tucked underneath the low table that Lucy had in her living room. "Where do I begin? Well, it all starts when I was little and my mum died. That's when I found out that I had a father, a father who was a Fairy Tail, an S-class mage…"

Over the course of half an hour, Cana sketched out the details of her attempts to talk to her father, Gildarts, and tell him that she was his daughter. That was her motive to become an S-class mage, to prove to herself and Gildarts that she was strong enough to be his daughter.

By the end of her explanation, Cana had tears in her eyes and she was sniffling quietly. "I-I just don't know what I should do. Fairy Tail's my home, but I've failed so many times before, I don't want to embarrass myself again."

"You won't have to fail again, Cana." An ivory hand clasped Cana's own and the brunette looked up to see Lucy looking at her with her own eyes shimmering. "I'll become your partner, I'll help you become an S-class mage. I'll help you, so that you can go up to your father and tell him you love him!"

"L-lucy…" A sob escaped Cana's lips before she jumped up to fling herself over the table at her blonde friend. "Thank you so much!" She collapsed into the blonde's arms, Lucy curling her arms around her in answer. "Don't worry, Cana, I'm here for you."

It was late at night when Lucy tucked an exhausted and unconscious Cana into her bed before slipping in after her, wrapping the frail seeming girl in a tender embrace.

Lucy's window was closed and locked, but her curtains were open, and she stared out into the dark night, the lampposts outside and the stars being the only source of light. "I swear," Lucy muttered quietly, her words fanning Cana's curly hair with every exhale. "I'll do everything in my power to make Cana an S-class mage. I swear on the promise of the stars above." The blonde unconsciously traced the scar on her hand, a mantra thrumming in her head as she fell asleep.

_And Celestial mages never go back on their word._

"_I swear on the blood that I bleed and my duty of Celestial mage, I will get stronger!"_

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**That was a massive filler, but next chapter I will (hopefully) start the real-deal of Tenrō Jima. This chapter was mainly just to show how Lucy hasn't just forgiven Natsu, she's actually harbouring a lot of resentful feelings in her and I'm sure that it's all going t come spewing out at some point.**

**And I found it slightly ridiculous in the series how Lucy was just like **_**meh, so what if I didn't get in? **_**when they announced who got into the exams. **

**I KNOW I'D BE PISSED WHEN MOST OF MY TEAMMATES GET TO HAVE A GO AND I'M SITT'N AT HOME!**

**Thank Kami for Cana. If she hadn't been chosen, Lucy wouldn't have gone. **

**And that's another thing. Why did Cana go to Lucy's house in the series? They don't even seem to be that great of friends! She would've gone to Erza or Mirajane to confide in before Lucy, they practically grew up together!**

**Well, at least Cana and Lucy are friends in my story. Closer friends, I mean.**

**Ah, hope you enjoyed anyway!**

**Ciao.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello my beauties! Sorry it's been so long, I just didn't feel inspired and all that excusing jazz, blah, blah, blah. Here's the next chapter and I'm thinking we're jumping **_**right **_**into the Tenrō arc. Huzzah! This is where most of the emotions come out and we get to see Lucy snap at some point and slap Natsu around. I'm gonna need to research this arc though, it's been so long! But it's my favourite :)**

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**Disclaimer: **_Igneel has returned! But I don't own him or any other characters or plotlines in this beautiful series called Fairy Tail. Just those of my own creations._

**Warning: **_Some language and general angstiness from Lucy. There'll probs be fighting as well, 'cause of the exams, ya know? And it may seem like there's a bit of Natsu bashing in here, but it's from a logical and Lucy's point of view, so he's going to seem like an idiot with the emotional range of a teaspoon. Sounds like another flame head. *Cough*RonaldWeasley!*Cough*_

* * *

**3****rd**** Person P.O.V.**

Lucy's jaw creaked as she yawned and stretched her _(fully functioning!) _arms above her head. Dropping them, she rolled her shoulders, trying to wake up completely. "Man! I am wiped~!"

Her companion that was walking casually beside her chuckled. "Well, I am as well, Lucy-chan. Especially after how Erza slave-drove us! I mean, we go on a job with her for two months, battling monsters, and then we only get two days away from her until we have to train with her for a week! Talk about close accommodations there!"

Laughing at Cana's enraged expression, Lucy answered her as they rounded a corner of Hargeon's busy streets. "You _did _say we had to train our best for these exams at such short notice, and I only _suggested _Erza's help; you didn't have to accept. And besides," Lucy said before Cana could argue against her points, "we did get stronger, didn't we?"

"Yeah," sighed Cana, sounding defeated. "But was it really necessary to disappear into _another bloody forest _for a week – unable to see anyone or find _good booze – _just to get some more skills in hand-to-hand combat?"

"I'd say yes," Lucy replied honestly. "I couldn't really do this before, could I?" The blonde stopped in the middle of the street, bracing her legs before flipping into a front flip that was executed perfectly.

"You were already getting close to doing a flip without falling on your face while we were on our job," Cana complained, brushing past the few pedestrians who had turned at Lucy's sudden acrobatic display. "And would you stop doing that all the time?"

"Doing what all the time?" Lucy asked innocently as she smiled at a bedazzled little girl before jogging to catch up to Cana.

The brunette turned her head to look at Lucy disbelievingly. "The whole thing where you break into sudden – and incredibly unnatural – gymnastic crap all the time. You know, the one where you drop into the splits on the ground to pick up something you've dropped, rather than just crouching down and standing up like a normal person?"

Lucy shrugged disarmingly. "It's more fun that way, and Erza _did _say to get in as much practise as possible."

Slapping a hand to her forehead, Cana rooted around in her blue, fuzzy side-purse for any type of alcohol that would ease the headache she could feel growing behind her eyes. "You have been hanging out with those idiotic teammates of yours _way _too much."

"It's good then that I spend so much time with you then! You help balance it out!" Lucy giggled as she swept Cana's arm into the crook of her good arm's elbow. "But are you ready for these exams?"

Taking in the sight of the crowd of familiar looking people standing outside a tall ship, Cana nodded determinedly. "You better believe it."

Lucy giggled again. "I never doubted you."

The two girls fell into companionable silence as they walked towards the gathering of S-class participants that stood on one of the numerous docks of Hargeon. A small blue-haired girl in the crowd caught sight of them and broke away from her male companion to come racing towards them. "Lucy! Cana!"

"Hey Wendy," Lucy laughed as the girl came to a skidding stop in front of them, already starting to burn a bright red from her unexpected and boisterous attitude.

"Hey little one," Cana drawled, sipping at a bottle of some sort of beverage in her hand. "What's got you so excited to see us? You visited us every day in the past week to heal Lucy-chan, so why ya so worked up now?"

Still blushing, Wendy fell into step beside Lucy as they continued to walk towards the ship, most of the Fairy Tail mages attention on them now. "A-ah, it's just that…it's just that, we're going to the S-class exams! That's really amazing, don't you think?"

"Bah!" Cana waved her arm that wasn't entwined with Lucy in the air, alcohol sloshing in the bottle she held. "Been there, done that, got the scars."

"Nice twist there, Cana," Lucy commented absently before turning to the small girl beside her. "I also want to thank you once more, Wendy. Without your healing skills, I might've never gotten full mobility of my arm!" The blonde clasped her bandaged right arm determinedly. "Thank you so much!"

Wendy blushed brighter and ducked her head shyly. "It's no problem, Lucy. I'm happy that I was able to help."

"You did more than help," Lucy said, ruffling Wendy's hair.

"Lu-chan!"

The excited voice cut across the three girl's conversation and they looked towards the group of Fairy Tail mages to see an excited Levy hurrying towards them.

"Levy-chan!" Lucy squealed, disengaging her arm from Cana's so that she could collide into a hug with Levy. "How are you?"

Pulling away from the hug far too quickly for Lucy's taste, Levy looked her up and down at arm's length. "Shouldn't I be asking you that, Lu-chan? You come in _bleeding _everywhere, and lie unconscious in the Infirmary, only to have disappeared by morning! Then," Levy cut across Lucy's protests with an uncharacteristic gleam in her eyes, "Natsu won't let us go to your house for two days since you're 'recovering.' But when I _finally _go to see you, you're not there!" Levy's eyes were dangerous as she narrowed them at a sudden shivering Lucy. **"Explain."**

"None of it's my fault!" Squeaked out Lucy, terrified by this new side of her normally cute and innocent friend. "Natsu's the one in fault for the first two! And the reason I wasn't at my apartment when you visited was probably because I was training with Cana and Erza in that forest that Erza normally trains at! _Pleasedon'thurtme!"_

At hearing Lucy's explanation, Levy relaxed slightly and let go of the visibly shaking girl, perspiring viciously even in her tank top and shorts. "Fine. I guess you didn't do anything wrong." As Lucy relaxed, Levy got close to her face again, eyes narrowed. _"But you could've told me! _I had to find out from Wendy where you were!"

"I'm sorry!" Wendy piqued up from behind Lucy. "I didn't realise I had to tell anyone of your location, Lucy! I told Levy-san because she asked me."

_Only one person cared about you enough to ask about you_, whispered Lucy's thoughts as she placated Wendy with kind words. _Look, __**look. **__Everyone looks so surprised to see weak, little, Lucky Lucy Heartiflia. __**"What's the weakling doing here?" **__They whisper. __**"She's just going to slow down the lovely Cana with her meagre skills." **_

Lucy smiled and chattered away with Levy, occasionally conferring to Cana and Wendy as she did so; all the while, studiously ignoring the dark thoughts that had been plaguing her for the past week.

_My oh my, Gray didn't ask about you once, did he? Not even when you're his teammate and injured does he care. Those sympathetic looks he gave you when the exam participants were declared were all false. He's faking it, Lucky Lucy. Faking it so that he can take great glee in watching you bend and break under pressure. He takes your most powerful spirit and leaves without a thanks. Bye, Loke. Bye, Gray. See you never in this life!_

'Oh gods,' Lucy moaned to herself internally as she greeted Juvia and Lisanna, who had teamed up. 'Now it's starting on my nakama. Would you just shut up already!'

_Hearing voices is one thing, but talking to them is another. Mad, little, Lucky Lucy they'll be calling you soon. Madder than a March Hare._

'Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!'

_And how about Natsu?_

'Not this again!'

_He didn't ask about you at all, did he? Your 'partner' doesn't seem to care much about you. Your 'best friend' forgets you at a drop of a hat and a mention of glory. Not your noble and loyal Knight-in-shining-armour anymore, is he? Wake up and smell the blood, Lucky Lucy, that's the only thing that's real in this world._

"Hey, Lucy-chan?"

Blinking rapidly, Lucy turned her head to a concerned looking Cana. "Um, I'm sorry, what? I didn't hear you there, Cana. Do you mind repeating it?"

"I asked if you were okay, Lucy," said Cana, giving the blonde a once over. "You looked a bit distant there."

The blonde giggled and waved it off, just like how she had been doing in the past week. "Sorry, Cana! I'm away with the fairies, aren't I?"

The wisecrack at their guild was enough for Cana and she broke into a roguish grin. "Funny one, Heartifilia. Real witty."

Laughing for real this time at Cana's sarcastic words, Lucy plopped down on a nearby barrel that was sitting unattended beside the ship. "What are we waiting for?"

"Master," said Cana, dropping ungracefully next to Lucy on the barrel, nearly shoving the girl off. "And Natsu, that idiot."

"Always late for everything except for battles," Lucy said with an amused sigh. "And I guess food, as well."

Cana hummed her agreement and took in the sight of her guildmates chatting with each other as she took a swig from her new bottle of rum. "Now we just wait."

"Hm," Lucy said, fiddling with her ponytail. "Now we wait."

Luckily, they didn't have to wait at all. Natsu came bounding up a couple of minutes later, Happy trailing behind him in the air.

"All right!" The boy yelled as he barrelled into the docks. "I'm all fired up!"

"Shut up, slanty eyes," drawled Gray from where he was standing next to Loke. "It's too early to hear your loud and annoying voice. Just hearing your voice makes me think I'm losing brain cells."

"Gray!" Yowled Natsu in challenge, fists lighting up. "You bastard!"

Deciding that she didn't want the ship that – she had deduced – was taking them to Tenrō Jima on fire, Lucy stood up to wander over and break up the fight.

"Stop it you two!" She shoved the two away from each other, dark glower on her face. "Save it for the bloody exams. You can beat each other into a pulp then, like you do every day."

Gray instantly backed down, not wanting to incur Lucy's wrath, but Natsu pushed against her arm, looking at her in bafflement. "Luce? What're you doing here?" Before Lucy could answer, or anyone else for that matter, he pressed on with a blissfully unaware, happy expression plastered across his face. "Oh! I know! You're here to see me off, aren't you? Thanks so much Luce, but I don't need your encouragement! I know I've already got these exams in the bag!"

A lot of the collected Fairy Tail mages found it _very hard _to not shake their head in disbelief, face palm, or drop kick Natsu into the ocean – or a boat, as that would be ten times worse for the motion sick Dragon slayer.

As for Lucy, it took all her self-control to not give into the little voice in her head (sounding suspiciously like Cana) that told her to Lucy kick him in the nuts and then continue to kick the idiotic boy into oblivion as she ranted and raved about just _why exactly _she was here.

"No, Natsu," the blonde gritted out, temper barely controlled. "I'm not here to see you off. Maybe the way I've been away for the past week may tell you why I'm here." There, it shouldn't be too hard for him to realise that she was here to compete as a partner in the S-class exams.

Unfortunately, Lucy forgot how dense Natsu could be, and how he spoke bluntly and straight-forward. He never really was good at deducing words and sentences.

"You were away for a whole week?" Asked Natsu, slightly alarmed. "Really?"

To basically everyone else gathered, it seemed like Natsu was being completely rude and hadn't noticed Lucy's disappearance from the guild, especially since _he _was the one who had brought her to her apartment and had been worried for her condition. But, as a matter of fact, Natsu had been ferociously trained by Happy and hadn't even had a chance to go to the guild himself. And the reason why he was reacting so to her statement was because he thought she had left on another mission! He believed that she had gone off on a dangerous job by herself, _without him! _Not going into a nearby forest to train – although that wouldn't have been much better in his standards as he had offered to train with Lucy several times earlier in the year and she had declined.

So it was safe to say he was the only one who was surprised when Lucy drew one of her long, slender legs back and slammed them mercilessly into his balls.

All of the Fairy Tail mages winced as Natsu crumpled into a whimpering heap, hands around his damaged goods. They would all deny later on that their hands didn't go to their goods as well and they all made sounds of discontentment.

Huffing, Lucy spun on her sandalled heel to stalk over to her partner, the other girls all flocking around her, tittering quietly in comforting words; most of them cursed males existence and their stupidity sympathetically, not one of them sparing a passionate look back to a comatosed Natsu. Not even Lisanna or Wendy, who were normally very compassionate to other people's pain, looked back at their nakama.

Freed took in the image of Natsu _still _lying on the ground and looked to his friend and teammate, Bixslow, with a blank look on his face. "I won't make fun of you anymore for being beaten by Heartifilia-san."

"Finally!" Bixslow threw his hands up in the air in frustrated relief. "I told you Cosplay queen was tough as hell and doubly as scary!"

"I'm her teammate," Gray inputted, "I _know _how scary she can be. She can be a hell of a whole lot like Erza."

The other males shuddered, excluding Gajeel, whose eyes meandered from Natsu, Gray, Cana and Lucy. 'Funny, how Icicle still thinks they're still a team. You can practically see the cracks in their friendships. Bunny girl,' here, he narrowed red eyes at a flustered Lucy who was being sympathised with by a complaining Evergreen. 'Is not going to trust anyone that easily after being betrayed by her best friend like that.' His eyes flickered over to a slowly recovering Natsu. 'If Flame-brain had acted sooner, none of this would've happened. If he had apologised and not ignored her, Bunny girl would've continued on like usual.'

'Instead,' now he looked at Cana, whose arm was slung around Lucy's shoulders, drawing the blonde in close; not like it seemed to matter to the blonde. 'Other people picked her up and helped her carry on, making her form bonds with them.' Wendy caught his eye and he watched the little (sister) look up at Lucy, chattering away like she hadn't been crushingly shy when he had first met her. 'Or even form stronger bonds with those she was already somewhat close to.'

'Cana, Wendy, Erza, Juvia…those are all females,' Gajeel thought curiously, eyes flickering over the crowd of girls. 'She hasn't gotten closer with any other males, which could be considered odd, as Lucy has never seemed to heavily prefer to hang out with females more than males. She should've at least gotten close to _one _male. Maybe she lost trust for males since her betrayer was a male?' Gajeel mused thoughtfully before shrugging to himself. 'Gihi, who cares? I'm not psychiatrist, so who am I to say?'

A lilting call of his voice courtesy of Levy pulled him out of his thoughts, and the Iron slayer found the petite girl pouting up at him from her titchy height.

"What is it, Shrimp?" He asked gruffly, mildly embarrassed about being caught unaware.

"Come and talk to the others!" Levy pursed her lips at his stubborn expression. "Come on, Gajeel! It's time for you to be social! Now let's talk to the others!" Catching the significantly bigger mage unawares again, Levy latched onto his arm and pulled him, stumbling, towards the group of females she had detached herself from.

'Doesn't she realise that she's dragging me into a bunch of _females?!_' Gajeel thought a bit desperately as he stumbled to a halt just outside the circle of Fairy females. 'I'm going to die!'

But at seeing both Juvia, and surprisingly, Lucy, look up at him and acknowledge him with a smile and shy wave (the wave courtesy of Lucy), Gajeel found himself, not torn to shreds like he thought, but gently pulled into a conversation. Not about shoes or make-up like he believed that females all females only talked about, but about magic and the pros and cons about using certain types of magic and their attacks.

"No!" Levy passionately said from her position at Gajeel's right elbow, frowning across at Juvia. "Just because you're a Water mage doesn't mean you're limited to working only with those of similar types of magic! Although you _do _work well with Gray," the Script mage said quickly to placate Juvia, "you could work well with someone like Laxus; he could use your water as a conductor for his lightning attacks."

At Evergreen's nod of confirmation (no one else knew Laxus's attacks and their compatibility than someone who worked beside the man), Levy pressed on. "And you could work well with Lu-chan! You have a spirit that uses water attacks, right?" She addressed the last part to a startled Lucy who nodded.

"Yes," agreed Juvia reluctantly. "Juvia could work with Laxus-san, but she's already found she works well with Lucy-san. Could she not simply work beside her and Gray-sama?"

"You've worked with Lucy?" asked Lisanna curiously, as she had only seen Juvia's obsessive love for Gray and how she had defended against Lucy, aka Love rival; not how Lucy and Juvia had made up and gone on a job together.

"Juvia has," the Water mage said easily. "Juvia and Lucy-san have done a Unison raid together with Aquarius-san."

A low whistle escaped some of the girls, alongside gasps of amazement, and some clapped Juvia and Lucy on the shoulder.

"Isn't that impressive, Gajeel?" Levy tugged on the broad arm of her partner, eyes shining.

"Yeah," Gajeel replied gruffly, "cool." Even though he seemed nonchalant about it, Gajeel was pretty impressed about Bunny girl's abilities.

"Have you ever done a Unison raid, Gajeel?" Came the curious question from Wendy, and Gajeel found several pairs of eyes on him and that he was now including into the circle and conversation. Grumbling about the attention, Gajeel began to speak in short sentences, slowly getting more and more incorporated into the discussion.

'I'll never understand girls,' the slayer thought absently to himself as he found himself in heated discussion against the merits of blunt weapons in battle with an adamant Cana. 'They are odd creatures.'

What Gajeel didn't realise was that he was the current envy of his fellow Fairy Tail males, all of their attention and glares fixed on the large male who was currently pressed up against Levy and a busty Cana in the circle they had formed.

"Lucky bastard," muttered Bixslow, to the nods of his companions.

"That's manly!" Bellowed Elfman. "I shall try my hand at this manly activity!"

Luckily, before Elfman could blunder his way into the conversations the girls were having, Master appeared on the edge of the boat, peering down at his collected brats. "Listen up everyone!" He shouted, getting everyone's attention. "Hurry up and board the boat so that we can get these exams underway!"

There was a collective roar of agreement as everyone began to race towards getting onto the boat, drowning out the whimper of 'b-boat?' that came from a now recovered Natsu.

"I can't believe Master was on here the whole time!" Complained Lucy to Cana as they made their way onto the deck. "We didn't have to wait there so long!"

Cana shrugged before meandering her way over to one of the deck chairs that had been laid out. "Who cares! Let's strip to our bikinis and get a beautiful tan! I have a feeling that today is going to be hot as hell!"

Finding no problem with that, Lucy stripped off her shirt and shorts to reveal her white bikini with a pink flower across her chest. She flopped down in a chair beside Cana, her thoughts never once going to the Fire Dragon slayer that had to be dragged up onto deck by Loke and was dumped in the corner to suffer by the sadistically happy spirit.

'Revenge for Lucy!' The Lion thought as he chucked Natsu without a care onto the hard wooden deck, grinning at the hollow thunk the boy's head made when it connected with the deck. "Have a fun trip, Natsu~!" Called the spirit over his shoulder as he waltzed over to get a free show of Lucy and Cana.

Natsu couldn't reply as the ship creaked and began to sway, invoking his motion sickness.

"Poor Natsu," Happy hummed, sounding not sorry at all. "Ah well, that's what he gets." The exceed turned tail and fluttered over to chat happily with his favourite blonde, having missed her in the week he hadn't seen her.

* * *

"Why are we last?" Moaned Lucy as she jogged with Cana up to the part of the caves in which they would chose the paths they needed to go along to make it to the next part of the exams. "Stupid Levy and her script magic! How come she couldn't have helped me?!"

"Us, you mean," Cana said dryly as they approached the network of caves.

Lucy just waved away her comments as she took in the caves. "Damn it! There's only one cave left! We don't get a choice at all since we were last."

"Tch," scoffed Cana, "well, we shouldn't stand around here complaining. Let's get moving!"

"Un!" Lucy broke into a run beside Cana, their sandalled feet slapping against the ground as they ran. "Do you reckon it'll be fine fighting in our bikinis? It won't give us much cover for physical and magical attacks."

"Meh," Cana began to scramble up a slope to reach their cave, "it's not like I haven't done this before. And besides, you've got your backpack with your clothes in it and your gloves if you really want protection, don't you?"

Nodding, Lucy swung her small backpack off one shoulder so that she could rummage around in it. Making a victorious exclamation, the blonde pulled out her red gloves, quickly pulling them on and zipping the bag back up as they entered the cave.

"Whoa," Lucy murmured as they slowed to a walk, taking in the sight of the cave that wasn't dark, like she had expected, but glowing softly from fine little particles of light that danced around the rocky, moss covered walls. "It's beautiful."

Cana whistled lowly in appreciation before launching into a jaunty tune that somehow lifted Lucy's spirits significantly. After a few moments of walking down the tunnel they were in, accompanied by Cana's numerous whistling tunes (all learnt from different bars she had been in at numerous levels of intoxication), the two girls heard a new sound echoing down the tunnel.

"Shit!" Lucy hissed quietly, hand clamping over Cana's mouth to stop her whistling as she pulled herself and the brunette close to the wall. "We've got opponents!"

"I swear to god," mumbled Cana as she pulled Lucy's hand off her face, "if it's Erza, I'm going to scream."

"I second that," Lucy whispered, "but shut up, they're coming."

The footsteps got closer and soon Cana and Lucy could hear voices accompanying the pair of footsteps.

"Two people," Lucy sighed in relief, "so no S-class mage."

"But who could it be?" Cana questioned, eyes peering through the half-lit air, trying to catch a glimpse of whoever was coming by. "It sounds like it's two males…"

"Gray and Loke or Freed and Bixslow," Lucy murmured, remembering the match-ups of the participants. "Neither sound like a good option."

"Well," Cana said with a sneaky smirk, "if it's Loke and Gray, you can send Loke home while I seduce Gray. It wouldn't be too hard."

Lucy rolled her eyes at her friend's antics. "No, Loke opened his gate to this world with his own magic, I get no say in sending him home, so that's out."

"Fine," said Cana with a pout, "I get to seduce them both!"

"They might not even be Gray and Loke!" Lucy protested. "It might be…" Her eyes widened as she took in her opponents. "Freed and Bixslow…"

"Oh?" Said Bixslow, taking in the sight that befell him. "Cosplayer queen and the drunkard?" =His tongue flopped out as he grinned. _"Nice position you got there, ladies."_

Both Cana and Lucy blinked at him before looking at themselves. Lucy hadn't let Cana go from when she had pulled them against the wall and, as she had pulled Cana towards her, herself. The brunette was flattened against her as they tried to stay as close to the wall as possible as to not be seen, which made both her and Lucy's rather large breasts press up against each. All in all, it was a very compromising situation.

Lucy let out a squeak as she realised what it looked like (two girls making out if you hadn't caught up with that fact yet), but Cana quickly wrapped her arms around her, drawing them even closer so that their faces were pressed against each other and their legs entwined. "Like what you see, boys?" She purred to Bixslow and Freed in a husky voice, winking at them flirtatiously.

Bisxlow giggled and his babies mimicked him, coming out from behind him to take in the scene. Freed, on the other hand, flushed a pretty red, looking like a flustered school boy rather than the usual noble man he was.

"Aww," Cana cooed, arms tightening around a struggling Lucy, "look at little Freed! He's all flustered!"

Said mage turned his head away, determined to not show off his flushed cheeks. Bixslow snickered and began to mock him, his babies echoing his words every now and then.

"Now Lucy!"

Both males turned their attention back on their opponents with a look of surprise as they suddenly rushed them, Lucy's whip in hand and Cana's fingers deftly holding a bunch of her cards as they glowed.

**Lucy vs Bixslow**

Bixslow dodged the initial attack of Lucy's whip snapping out towards him in what was meant to be an upfront attack, but didn't expect the blue, glowing whip to suddenly extend and wrap itself around his legs. Lucy yanked her arm back and watched with a sense of victory as Bixslow was pulled off balance and went sprawling on his back.

"Lucy! Lucy!" Bixslow's dolls chirped before firing off green bolts of energy, all of them narrowly missing the blonde who disengaged her whip from Bixslow so that she could snake around the attacks.

"Nice one Cosplay queen," grinned Bixslow as he popped upright, his babies dropping back to float around him, ready to attack or defend. "But you're going to have to do better than that if you want to defeat me again! I've been training hard since we last met!"

"Good to know that makes more than one of us," Lucy snarked back, holding her whip at the ready. "But I thought we were here to fight, not chat like two gossiping girls."

"Girls! Girls!"

Bixslow let out a howl of laughter. "Oooh, it seems that little blondie's been working on her witty comebacks since I last versed her! Your idiot teammate rub off you then?"

"And what teammate might you be talking about?" Lucy asked calmly, seeming like she was simply talking to Bixslow, but was running through what spirits would work well against him. She didn't have Loke like last time, so it was important that she went with smarts, not just by overwhelming him with power.

"Natsu of course," Bixslow replied to Lucy's question, slightly confused. "Who else would I be talking about?"

"Well," said Lucy simply, "it's been a while since I've been on a team with him, so you can never be too sure. You could be talking about the silly brunette behind me who is currently duking it out with your partner."

"Hey!" Called out Cana from where she was flinging her shuriken cards at Freed, having them all deflected by his sword. "I resent the fact that the best you could come up with is _silly _for me! I thought you were better than that, Lucy-chan!" The brunette rolled away from one of Freed's rune spells, hiding her worry against hiding an old opponent that she lost to with a wide grin.

The blonde rolled her eyes in fond exasperation before drawing one of her golden keys off its customary belt on her hips. "Whatever, Cana. Could you just…hydrate this place a bit, I'm getting sort of thirsty."

Pulling her head away from a sword strike and the fight at hand, Cana caught sight of the specific key in Lucy's gloved hand and her eyes gleamed as brightly as the golden key. "Rightio, Lucy-chan! Remember, you can't touch the water!" The brunette leapt away from Freed so that she could rummage through her side purse. Upon pulling out a card, Cana slammed it onto the ground while she yelled out, **"The Prayer's Fountain!"**

A large torrent of water exploded out of the card in several ferocious streams that blasted straight for Bixslow, his dolls and Freed, barely missing Lucy as they went.

After bending away from the dangerous water stream, Lucy plunged Aquarius's key in the water, making sure to not get water on her hands. Unlocking the gate with a burst of power, Lucy leapt back as Aquarius came out of the water, her usual annoyed look on her face. "What do you want?"

"What a babe!" Bixslow crowed, having dodged all the streams with ease, alongside a composed looking Freed and his babies.

"Tch," a dangerous look came into Aquarius's eyes as she turned to Bixslow, "what did you just say to me?"

'Crap…' Bixslow thought as the enraged spirit glared at him, 'I probably shouldn't have said that…stupid brain.'

"I have a boyfriend you ass!" Aquarius roared, twisting around in the last splutters of the Prayer's Fountain, brandishing her vase. "Take this!"

Curiously, Aquarius's rage was so great at Bixslow that she skipped the whole drown-everyone-especially-Lucy part, and instead, blasted a steady and strong geyser of water at the surprised mage, lifting him and his babies up and tossing them into the wall behind him.

"Good job, Aquarius!" Cheered Lucy happily as she took in the crumpled form of Bixslow and the drenched form of Freed who had gotten caught in the spray. "Your accuracy is amazing!"

"As if it wouldn't be anything less!" Scoffed Aquarius, flipping her shimmery hair. "Now, is there anything else you're dragging me away from my _boyfriend _for?" Aquarius said boyfriend with a leer, having stopped pressing Lucy to get a boyfriend after the whole debacle with Natsu, but more than happy to rub the fact that she had a boyfriend in the blonde's face.

"I don't need a boyfriend!" Yelped Lucy, fluttering her hands in her anger. "And no, I think your job here is done."

"Good," both Aquarius and Cana said at the same time.

Aquarius twisted around on the flooded floor of the cave to glare at Cana. "Bitch."

"Whore." Cana acknowledged back, eyes dark.

The standoff continued until Aquarius tossed her head again with a decisive snort. "The same as usual. I thought I'd be seeing the last of you in the accursed forest."

"Yeah," said Cana easily, "not a long enough time period to not see each other, is it?"

"No," Aquarius said shortly before rotating back to Lucy. "I'm leaving now. Don't call me for a week. I have several dates with Scorpio~!" The mermaid spirit sighed happily before disappearing in a flash of golden light, much like how she entered.

"Bitchy thing, isn't she?" Cana commented to Lucy absently as she took in the sight of Bixslow still lying on the floor. "Shit. Is he actually unconscious?" She looked over to Lucy who looked as surprised as she did. "I thought you said he was strong!"

"He was!" Lucy protested, not wanting to seem weak when she last versed him. "I don't get it!"

"You have gotten stronger," came Freed's calm voice, making the two girls look over at him. "Both of you," he said with a smile and a nod. "It will be a pleasure to fight you," he said, pulling out his rapier in preparation.

Lucy and Cana looked at each other before nodding. Lucy's whip clipped in a coil on her waist as she elected using her gloved fists, and Cana pulled out more cards, looking determined to beat the man who had defeated her so easily in the Fighting Festival.

**Lucy and Cana vs Freed**

After a moment of tenseness, all three dashed forwards, all eager to win. Or so it seemed…

Freed hid a smile as he twisted away from a haymaker that Lucy powerfully threw at him, before fending an approaching Cana off by swinging his rapier. Summoning up a small part of his magic, Freed wished pain upon Cana, blasting a dark spell towards the brunette containing his will. Cana barely dodged, feeling her nerve endings tingle warningly as the orb of dark magic brushed by her side.

Taking advantage of Freed's distraction, Lucy leapt up in the air, fully intent on dropping into a devastating axe kick upon Freed's head. As her leg neared his head, the green-haired man's hand shot up and grabbed her leg. He then pivoted gracefully and flung the girl. Lucy squealed as she went flying, but quickly regained her senses and flipped backwards in the air to land on the ground with a light tap of her sandals.

Cana, from her position away from the fight, held two cards together in her hand and flicked her arm out, but didn't let go of the cards. A large gust of wind twisted its way towards Freed, making the man summon his wings so that he could flap out of the way. Before he could fly high enough to reposition himself into a better position, Lucy's whip coiled around his leg and pulled him inelegantly to the ground with a sharp pull from the blonde who was immensely proud of her strength.

Freed attempted to land on the ground and disengage himself from Lucy's coils, but found Cana already in his face with her fists ready. The harsh right hook met him right in the cheek and snapped his head to the side, making him stumble sideways with the momentum.

Not letting her opponent recuperate, Lucy lunged for Freed after wrapping Fleuve dé toiles up and clipping it back onto her belt. Her red gloved hand slammed into his back and pushed the air out of his lungs. Cana joined in soon after, getting a few shots in while Freed tried to recover, but getting some equally in return as Freed directed Lucy's attacks into her partner.

They all disengaged after a few more shots at each other that merely grazed, all of them breathing heavily. It seemed like now was a good time for Freed as ever to be 'defeated.' He was actually somewhat awed by the girl's strength and worried about the moment that he slips up and one of their attacks really does hurt him.

"Before we continue," Freed said quietly, summoning up a blush to light up his cheeks. "Do you reckon you guys could get some clothes on? The way you dress is very exposing and…"

"Distracting?" Cana said coyly, an idea already forming. "Why don't you like us like this, Freed? Are we too…_distracting _for you to concentrate on fighting?"

Lucy stifled a giggle at Freed's flustered expression, taking note on how the man's face had gone a most beautiful and unique shade of red.

Freed stammered something out, but wasn't quick enough to stop Cana from pulling a card out and throwing it at his feet. **"Sexy women card!" **The brunet grinned as a scantily clad beauty appeared in front of Freed, already pressing herself up against him alluringly. "How'd ya like that, Freed?"

The man in question fumbled slightly before pulling up his rapier, looking like he was intending on using a pain-inducing spell on his two opponents.

"Not so fast!" Cana flung out several more of the cards, watching with glee as over twenty, bikini and lingerie clad girls came leaping out, squealing out 'Freed-sama' and pressing themselves against the ruffled mage, several of them brushing their lips against his body as they did so.

"S-stop it!" Freed wriggled and tried to escape the sexy women's clutches, but found himself held tight. "Oh please! No more!"

Cana wigged her eyebrows at an amused Lucy as she pulled out yet _more _cards. "Well, he asked!" The girl flung out more of the cards and laughed as nearly fifty girls were all swarming over Freed, calling out his name and diving on him, breasts shoved into his face.

"Why do you have these cards?" Lucy asked curiously, but bracing herself for what was sure to be a strange or stupid answer.

"Orgies."

"Oh, Cana, please don't. Just…never do that again, I beg of you!"

"I can't promise something that is part of me. You got the whole package deal when you got me as a partner."

"Just no more sex jokes, please."

"Still not promising~!"

"Can-! Oh wait! Look! Freed's unconscious!"

"Holy shit, I think he might be!"

"How do we check?"

"…"

"Cana, stop poking the man…Cana, I mean it!"

"Look at the face he pulls when I pull his hair!"

"Stop it, Cana! Dispel those sexy girls and let's go! We've won!"

"You're just jealous I have my own orgy…"

"CANA!"

"Okay, okay! I'm going! But holy shit we won!"

"I just said that, didn't I?"

"You love me too much to stay mad, Lucy-chan."

"Whatever, let's just go on to the next part of the exams."

"Roger that, Heartifilia!"

After making sure that the girls had already rushed on ahead, Bixslow picked his head up from where he had been playing dead and grinned over at Freed who had already sat up and recovered from his spell of 'unconsciousness.'

"You lucky bastard."

* * *

**Okay, that's a wrap there!**

**It was a lightly bit tedious, not much happened, and it was kind of just canon at the end there, but Cana and Lucy are so fun to write together.**

**Cana is actually a slightly serious character – I know, I was surprised when someone pointed that out, but it's true! – but I much prefer her just being joking all the time. It's shown in the series that she's serious when it comes to battle and snuff, but I just like her cracking jokes in battle and having her egg people on, it's fun!**

**And Lucy joins in on the banter because she was with Cana for two months and has picked up the girls habits, shame on her! :D**

**Also, did you see that little Gajeel and Fairy females bonding? Nawww, so cute! Gajeel's a softy on the inside, and he's Levy's bitch! That makes him awesome in my books. There's also the fact that his laugh is insanely cool and he can use shadows as well as iron. And now he's got steel?! This man is going places! I hope he gets his dragon, he deserves it.**

**Anyways, hope it was alright and good enough for now! I hope to see you all soon!**

**Ciao.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey guys, so chill right now. Here's the next chapter and I hope that you guys enjoy it as much as you did for the last chapter. Seriously, cheers for all the reviews guys!**

**This will purely be following Lucy, as every other person's story will be going along exactly the same as canon. Lucy's not influencing their choices or strength, after all.**

**Another note: I had a reviewer (aptly named no one) give me a rant on how terrible I was to put down the writers who wrote (only in **_**my **_**opinion) the terribly OOC stories in which Lucy goes off while Natsu makes out with Lisanna.**

**Okay, just to get a few things straight; I'm just going to have a mini rant, but you don't have to look here at all, 'cause it's not my usual witty banter or funny shit.**

**Firstly; I am **_**very **_**sorry if I insulted any writer with my rant in the first chapter, I don't mean any hardships there. I genuinely appreciate their attempts at writing literature and I applaud them for their success. Secondly; I read and **_**enjoy **_**A LOT of those types of stories, so I'm not being a bitch just for the sake of it. One of my favourite FT stories is the story **_**Replaced, **_**a story that is a MASSIVE 'Lucy goes off and Natsu realises his mistakes and love for her,' yet I still fucking love it. **

**So just chill the fuck out, I am not a hater on this site, I'm an appreciator that is just blunt with her words. Capishe? **

**I beg your pardon for this long rant and I'll leave you to the story.**

* * *

**Disclaimer: **_Me owning FT would be me making a show about Natsu and Lucy fiercely making out and, as you guys know, that's not happening right now!_

**Warning: **_A little bit of this, a little bit of that…now shake your tush *clap clap clap* I don't wanna be a chicken, I don't wanna be a duck, now shake that tush *clap clap clap*_

* * *

**3****rd**** Person P.O.V.**

Lucy sighed in happiness as she splashed the soothingly cool water up her arms before dunking her hair underwater once more.

"This is the life," drawled Cana as she scrubbed away the sweat that had collected on her body. "Onto the next round of the trials and fucking naked in an awesomely cool pool of water; I'd say I'm pretty content right now."

"Yeah," Lucy agreed as she clamoured out of the small spring that she and Cana had come across, "but we really should be getting back to Master. He said that the last few competitors should be arriving soon."

"That's if anyone's made it through," laughed Cana as she got out of the spring and followed Lucy to the tree where their bikinis were drying. "Other people have to verse fucking Erza and Mirajane! I'd die if I had to verse them!"

Lucy laughed alongside her friend as they pulled their bikinis on and tugged their shorts and singlet (in Lucy's case) over the top. "I think the only person who would be happy to verse those two is Natsu…" The smile died off the blonde's face as she thought of her…_partner?_ Were they even partners anymore? It _had _been months since their last job together, and Lucy really didn't think that she could click together with Natsu as easily as she used to. Things had changed a lot since their last battle together; she wasn't the damsel anymore and he wasn't the all-powerful dragon that she had viewed him to be; more like an insufferable idiot.

"Hey," Cana bumped shoulders with her suddenly down friend, shoving Lucy's red gloves at her, along with her belt, whip and keys. "Don't let that pink-haired idiot get to you, you're going to prove him wrong in these exams, okay? We're going to fucking _blitz _this competition, and then Dragneel will see how stupid he's been to underestimate you!"

Breaking out into a smile, Lucy took her belt and clipped her keys and whip to it as she slung it around her waist. She pulled on her red gloves and clenched them in determination. "Yeah! We'll show everyone what we've got, Cana!"

Said brunette clapped Lucy on the back as she sauntered past. "Atta girl, Lucy-chan! Now let's go; we've got an S-class trial to win!"

* * *

Natsu didn't know how long he had been slumped against this one rock, but he knew it had been long enough for him to sort through his fear and disappointment of losing to Gildarts – and it had been long enough for him to lose feeling in his back and ass.

The Dragon Slayer stood up and rolled his shoulders, putting on his signature grin as he turned to the collected contestants who had made it through the battle rounds. "Is this everyone?!"

"Not everyone is here," grumped Master from his cross-legged position on a rock, irritated that the strangely (read; mercifully) quiet boy had recovered his usual disposition and was back to shouting and grinning that infernal grin of his.

"It's been ages though," groaned Gray as he leant against a tree trunk. "Let's just say that Evergreen and Elfman are out, alongside Juvia and Lisanna. They've got either Mirajane or Erza, after all."

"What about Luce?" Natsu asked, curious as to why his partner wasn't mentioned; she wasn't here, so she had to be still battling. _Or she's lost, _whispered a part of his mind that didn't have as much faith in Lucy as he did. 'Shut up,' Natsu growled back to the sly voice, 'Lucy's strong!'

"Both Cana and I got through ages ago, you guys were just so slow that we decided to go and wash off. There's a real nice spring off in the forest there."

Speak of the devil and she shall come. Lucy came wandering out of an opening in the surrounding forest, Cana following closely after; both of their hair damp and dripping, even though Cana was wringing hers out and Lucy had tied hers back in two low pigtails.

"No way!" Gajeel growled out, "I didn't see you guys here when Squirt and I got here, so there's no way that you guys got here before me."

Cana scoffed at the taller mage as she dropped herself ungracefully onto a rock, Lucy joining her. "We got here before you, Metal Face, just by a bit, but we still got here before you. We were leaving to go search for the spring Master told us about when we heard your screechy voice echoing out of one of the paths. It made us run faster." The brunette broke off into snickers as Gajeel growled at her and the others who were laughing alongside her.

Gray stepped forwards as he tugged at his t-shirt, leaning in close to Lucy. "So who'd you verse on your path? And how'd you beat us here?"

"We ran," Lucy said simply, "and Cana and I versed Freed and Bickslow."

Gray choked and staggered back. "You beat _Freed and Bickslow! _How the hell did you manage that?!"

"You beat Freed and Bickslow!" Levy cried out, jumping onto Lucy excitedly. "That's amazing!"

"That's bullshit," snarled Gajeel, "how could Bunny Girl and the Drunkard defeat those two?"

"Magic," Cana deadpanned. "Besides, Lucy's already beaten Bickslow before, and with our teamwork," Cana slung an arm around Lucy and pulled her close, squishing their faces together, "we're unstoppable!"

"Happy and me have _way _better teamwork than you guys!" Boasted Natsu, thumbing at himself. "We'll beat you guys for sure!"

Cana smirked up at him, gaze dark and mischievous. "I wouldn't bet your money on that, Dragneel. You might be surprised to see your jewels disappearing pretty quickly."

The atmosphere tensed as the two hot heads stared each other down. It wasn't until a hand cracked across both of their heads that the tension disappeared.

"Enough of that, you two," admonished Lucy, staring at the two pouting mages sternly. "There's no need to get competitive yet, the next part of the exams has yet to start, so save it until then, okay?"

Cana sulkily nodded, death glaring Natsu who was busy staring up at Lucy. "Don't you believe I can win, Luce? Some partner you are."

Lucy's face flickered through several emotions at those words; mild annoyance, sadness, disappointment, anger and loyalty. "There is a chance you can win, Natsu, but you'd have to go through Cana and I first to get there. We won't go down without a fight!"

"Let's duke out right now then!" Natsu bolted upright and positioned himself in a boxing stance, feet dancing as his hands lashed out in mock jabs that brushed too close to Lucy's face for her own comfort. "Stop that, you idiot! You're going to hit me!" The blonde slapped Natsu's hands away from her face, "I said save it for the exams, moron!"

Seeing that the two were going to break down into one of their usual petty squabble – only, they were also accompanied by Cana this time round – the other competitors turned their attention to each other, content to chat until their Master told them that the next part of the trials were beginning.

It was the arrival of a panting and exhausted Evergreen and Elfman that broke the calm and comrade-like atmosphere.

"We…" breathed out Evergreen as she leant against Elfman, "beat Mirajane…"

"EH?!" Came the collective shout of the Fairy Tail mages. "NO WAY!"

"Today's just full of surprises," chuckled Cana as she watched Elfman and Evergreen hem and haw about how they won. "And full of people showing their inner strength."

"Too right," agreed Lucy, bumping shoulders with Cana so that the brunette could turn and see her grin. "We've already started to show them…"

"So we should finish with a bang," continued Cana. "We'll show them what we've got right here, right now!"

"Alright you brats!" Roared Makarov, interrupting the interrogation that Gray and Loke were inflicting on Evergreen and Elfman (unknowingly saving them great embarrassment as he did so). "We're going to start the next part of the trials! Are you ready?"

"I'm all fired up!" Natsu clenched a flaming fist in his excitement. "Hit me up, old man!"

Without pausing, Makarov slapped Natsu into the ground with an enlarged fist. "The next part of the trials is …what you might call, a treasure hunt." The old man coughed as he shrunk his fist and dragged it off a squished Natsu. "You must find the First Master's grave, Mavis Vermillion; here's some information for you…"

* * *

**Lucy P.O.V.**

It was tricky, this part of the trial, but not impossible. I just had to figure out where the First Master's grave was from the hints that Makarov said during his explanation of the rules applying to this part of the trial.

"I…I think I've got it!" I exclaimed to Cana, ecstatic with my victory. "The First Master's grave is in route E! One of the routes from-"

"The first part of the trial," Cana breathed out, eyes shining with wonder and excitement. "You're a freaking genius, Lucy-chan!" The brunette wrapped me up in a massive hug, her excitement palpable.

"It's nothing, Cana," I said in reply, returning the hug briefly before getting down to business. "We should head out now, though. Levy's smart enough to figure this out, so she and Gajeel could already be heading there."

"They're not going to win!" Cana snarled, excitement now changed into anger and determination. "Not if I've got anything to say about it! C'mon, Lucy-chan!" She didn't wait for an answer, grabbing my hand and beginning to sprint back towards the network of caves that the routes lay in. I stumbled a few steps before catching up, Cana dropping my wrist so that we could run side by side down the trails of the forest.

We were around halfway back to the routes when a flare went up in the air over the treetops, exploding in a burst of red.

I skidded to a stop, staring up at the flare. "What's that mean?!"

"Don't know," Cana bit out, impatiently pausing in her running, "but it doesn't matter! Let's go!"

"It means we have to go back to the camp," said a distinctive male voice from behind us.

I whirled around to see both Gray and Loke coming out of nearby bushes, their expressions grim. "You were following us, you assholes!"

Loke chuckled sheepishly. "Well, I knew you were smart enough to figure out the riddle, Hime, so it was only smart to follow you." My spirit came closer, picking up my hand so that he could place a kiss on it. He smiled regally at me. "Not like I wouldn't follow you to the end of Earthland already, my beautiful maiden."

"Flattery won't get you anywhere," I huffed, tugging my hand back. "And besides, there's a lot more importance in that flare that just went up."

"Yeah," Gray spoke up, still staring up at the last remnants of the flare. "The flare means that the trial has been called off and that we have to go back to the campsite to recuperate and find out why the trial's been called off. I'm pretty sure that red means that other people are on the island."

"No!" Cana suddenly shrieked. "I am not stopping here! Not when I'm so close!"

"Cana," I tried to placate my friend, "the trial could just be called off for a short while, and then we can start up again. I'm sure somebody has just accidentally wandered onto the island. We don't want them caught up in the trial, otherwise they'll get injured by all the creatures here and the magic being thrown around!"

"But then these two might beat us to the First Master's grave," Cana glared at Loke and Gray. "I don't want to take that chance. And if someone's on the island, I say; screw them! They can just move out of my way as I make my way to Mavis's grave."

"The trial doesn't matter right now," snapped out Gray, "not if it's something that's going to affect us all. We should just hurry up and get to the campsite; put away your competitiveness and selfishness, Cana."

At seeing Cana's distinctly hurt expression, I decided to defuse the situation before it went too far. "Guys, we'll settle this later, but Cana," I turned to the brunette, "we should go to the campsite. Someone could be hurt, after all, and we don't know if whoever's on the island is good or bad."

Cana sighed but nodded her head, "yeah, yeah we should. I'm sorry about getting carried away."

"That doesn't matter now," I said to her, "let's just head out."

Loke, that smartass, saluted me cheerfully, totally defusing the edgy atmosphere. "Yes, General Lucy!"

Snorting at my spirit's ridiculousness, I turned to face back where we came. "This is the way to the campsite, right?"

"I'll lead," Gray began to walk ahead, "I know where to go."

"Lead on, fearless leader," Loke sniped, dropping into step behind the Ice mage.

Laughing lightly as the two males began to banter cheerfully, I trotted behind them, only looking back to see if Cana was behind me. "Are you alright, Cana?" The brunette looked so down when she met my gaze. "Yeah, I'm fine, Lucy-chan. Just…"

"I get it," I tried to smile reassuringly at her, "we'll finish this thing, you'll see."

Cana rolled her eyes, but I could see that she was starting to relax some. "I don't need encouragement, Lucy-_chan. _I am the older one, after all."

"And sexier," I added, beginning to jog so that I could keep up with Gray and Loke.

"And sexier," agreed Cana.

As I ran behind Loke, I couldn't help but worry about Cana. She seemed so focused on winning this trial that it was almost scary; it was like an obsession. She wasn't focused on anything but finding Mavis's grave and becoming S-class; Cana could lose sight of what's most important with that level of focus.

"Stop!" Gray called out, causing Loke, Cana and I to skid to a stop in front of old, decaying ruins of what once could've been a stone house. "What?!"

"Look up," was all Gray said.

And look up we did.

"What the hell are those?" I gasped out, staring up in confusion at the large, purple spherical things that were drifting down out of the sky. "Are they…are they _bubbles?!"_

"Bubbles with people in them!" Loke yelled. "Look!"

When I peered closely at the giant bubbles that were reaching the ground now, I could make out vague forms that very well could be humanoid. "Loke's not joking guys!"

"What the hell is this?!" Demanded Cana as the bubbles began to burst, releasing a bunch of men onto our sacred island. "What do these people want?"

"We are of Grimore Heart!" One of the men declared, leering at us as he clutched a large lance. "And we are here to destroy you Fairy scum!"

The writer side of me vaguely noted how cliché that declaration sounded, but the majority of me was frankly shocked. Grimore Heart? _Grimore Heart, _one of the Baram Alliance? One of the biggest and most evil Dark guilds in Fiore?

"What the heck is Grimore Heart doing here?" Gray scowled at the collected Grimore Heart men, obviously not happy with the new development. "How dare you step on our holy land! Only people with a Fairy Tail marks can be on Tenrō Jima!"

One of the men snickered, lazily twirling a chain and ball. "It's a bit late for that, Fairy, we've already invaded your whole _'precious, holy island!' _We're here to demolish you, and demolish you we shall!"

"Like hell you will!" I yelled out, pulling out Fleuve d'étoiles and cracking it towards a bunch of the men nearby. "We'll stop you before you even think about trying!"

"Damn straight!" Cana flung her hands out, releasing a torrent of cards that sliced many of the men and their weapons.

Loke and Gray roared their own agreement before joining in the melee, their magical attacks bursting around them in bright arrays.

I was surprised at how easy it was to take the men down. They were weak, untrained, and fell easily to our combined attacks that we rained upon them. Gray struck the last blow; a widespread Ice Make: Lance took the rest of the men down no problem.

"This is crazy!" I panted out, shaking my hands to relieve them of the phantom pain of landing against jawbones and the back of skulls. "What is Grimore Heart doing here?!"

"Gray's already said that," remarked Cana with no humour or malice, "and there's still no answer for that."

I glared half-heartedly at her before noticing something odd. "The men are disappearing! They're vanishing out of existence!"

"What the…" breathed out Loke, eyes wide as he took in the fading men.

"I have sent them back," called out a new voice, "because I will be your opponent!"

I whirled around to face the newcomer and couldn't help but gasp at what I saw. A goat. A legitimate goat. A real life goat that was wearing _clothes; _a midriff tailored coat and pants! _A goat-man!_

"My name is Caprico," the newly dubbed Caprico said coldly. "I am here to stop you from interfering in my guild's, Grimore Heart's, plans."

"What plans?" Asked Loke, looking strangely nervous and angry. "What are you and your guild here for?"

"That is something I can not divulge as of now," Caprico said shortly, "but it wouldn't matter, either way, you will not live long enough to speak of our plans." Before anyone could speak up, Caprico seemed to shimmer out of existence.

"Where'd he go-!" Started Gray before Caprico abruptly appeared in front of him, leg raised up and already swinging through the air. His foot impacted with Gray's cheek and sent him flying.

"Gray!" Both Loke and I yelled out.

"There is no time to be concerned for your friend," Caprico said, daintily pivoting on one foot so that he could lash out at Loke, who narrowly dodged. "You should be concerned for your own life."

**Gray, Loke, Cana and Lucy vs Caprico**

In retaliation of Caprico's attempt to hit him, Loke powered up one of his rings, letting the bright glow wash over his face. "Regulus Impact!"

"Too slow." Caprico leant away from the brilliant and deadly beam of light, sunglasses protecting his eyes from the blinding level of light. He then dove through the air to land a devastating roundhouse kick into Loke's stomach.

"Loke!" I called out in concern as my spirit was flung out of the small clearing we were in, and into the surrounding ruins. "You bastard." I glared at Caprico, gloved hands clenched. "Let's go then!"

Shoving down any fear I had of this obviously strong enemy, I charged forwards, body at the ready to attack or defend. At seeing that Caprico was still turning from where he had kicked Loke, I shifted into an attacking stance and dropped low so that I could use a sweeping kick to take his feet from underneath him.

The goat-man gently leapt over my feet, barely landing before he backhanded me and sent me tumbling back.

"What the hell?" I spat to the side as I rolled to a stop. "It felt like I was going to get him, and then it was like all my speed and force suddenly disappeared!"

"That would be my magical ability," said Caprico as he straightened his impeccable tuxedo, "Human Subordination."

"Human Subordination?" I repeated, standing up. "What kind of magic is that?"

"A magic that weakens a mages physical and magical attacks," Loke answered for Caprico, helping up a slightly dazed Gray from the ruins of what could've been a small tower. "It's an old and ancient magic."

"You are well informed," remarked Caprico, pushing his glasses up his nose. "But that shall not help you." Without warning, he disappeared again, his speed so great that I couldn't even see him moving. He appeared in front of Cana, who had been readying some card traps, and grabbed her around the waist so that he could toss him towards me.

I squeaked at the sight of the incoming girl, but quickly braced myself and raised up my gloved arms. I took Cana's body right to my chest and held tightly onto the girl as I was pushed back by the force of her impact, my sandals digging into the ground as I did so. "Are you okay, Cana?"

"Yeah," the brunette gasped back to me, untangling herself from my arms and standing upright. "You?"

"Fine," I replied, rubbing my aching feet, "but just what is this guy? He's ridiculously strong and fast. He seems to be better at hand-to-hand than _Erza_, and he uses some magic that reduces our magical and physical power every time we try and get _close _to him! This is ridiculous!"

"I agree," Cana began to edge around to where her cards lay and I followed, both of our gazes locked on where Gray was trying to trap Caprico with an icy cage, and Loke was lunging in to enact hand-to-hand combat whenever Gray slipped up. "But what should we do about it?"

"We should all hit him with our own magical attacks," I replied, "but we should get us some room to recuperate before we do so. Maybe if we hit him with a long-ranged attack…"

"Already on it!" Cana hurried over to her cards that had been abandoned on the ground and began shuffling them around, apparently searching for specific cards.

Seeing Cana so distracted, I stood in front of her, just in case Caprico decided to target her since she was basically defenceless. And it was lucky I did, since the goat-man came flickering towards me not shortly after.

I raised my arms up to block the powerful right hook that came rocketing towards me, barely standing my ground so that I didn't crush Cana behind me. Gritting my teeth, I held Caprico back with one arm as I wound the other back and slipped it under our engaged fists, driving it deep into his stomach.

"Good work, Lucy!" I heard Loke call out. "That's the first hit that's landed!"

I flushed with pleasure that I, Lucky Lucy Heartifilia, landed the first hit on a powerful opponent! But it was my moment of pride that cost me, as Caprico quickly recovered from the punch and returned it back tenfold with an uppercut that impacted under my chin. I felt my feet leave the ground as the eye-rattling punch hit me, and my teeth chattered from the excess strength as I curved backwards over Cana.

The ground hit the back of my head and spine with such strength that it pushed all the air from my lungs, leaving me gasping and wheezing as I tried to grab it back.

"Thanks Lucy!" I dimly heard Cana say. "You've given me enough time to do this!"

Unbeknownst to me, Cana had set up three of her famed cards and charged them up with enough magical energy that it released a massive burst of lightening that went arcing towards Caprico.

Although the goat-man's magical ability meant that he could reduce magical power, and his dodging skills were superb, he couldn't completely negate or move out of the way of the force of nature, causing him to be struck on the side by a few thousand volts of pure magical and electrical energy.

After I sat up – and that took quite some time – I was greeted with the sight of Caprico clutching his side, which was smoking softly, releasing the stench of cooked flesh and burnt silk clothing. "You did it, Cana?"

"Heck yes I did," replied the brunette beside me, "but…Loke! Gray! Stop standing there!" Cana pulled out some cards and flung them at the goat-man, explosions erupting around him as he sloppily dodged, "Attack you idiots!"

There was roars in answer as Loke and Gray powered up their own attacks and threw them at Caprico.

Shakily, I stood up, eyes blinded by the bright shimmers of ice, light and explosive fires that burst before them. I was definitely hurting from that backhand that Caprcio gave me, the right side of my face was now numb and I could feel it swelling, but I had to push through it. I could barely breathe, still recovering from the wind being knocked out of me, yet I couldn't stand here and try and catch it. My friends needed me, and I'd be damned if I let them down!

Tugging off any key from my belt, I was relieved to see Sagittarius's symbol gleaming back at me. He could support us from a distance with his arrows, and he wouldn't be in danger of hitting us when we engaged Caprico in close-combat due to his perfect accuracy. "Open! Gate of the Archer: Sagittarius!" I slashed the key through the air and smiled in relief as Sagittarius appeared saluting me. "Hello, moshi moshi!"

"Sagittarius!" I ordered, no time to be polite since we were in battle. "Support us by shooting at the goat-man whenever you see an opening!" As I pointed out Caprico, I heard a strangled gasp come from Sagittarius. "I-it couldn't be!"

"What?!" I demanded, taking in the sight of Loke and Caprico duking it out with their fists. "What is it, Sagittarius?!"

"Capricorn!" Returned my spirit, eyes wide in surprise. "It's Capricorn?!"

_Capricorn? _My eyes widened as I linked up the dots. Caprico. Caprico_(rn!) _It was so obvious! Capricorn, the Goat spirit! "Why is Capricorn here?"

Sagittarius answered me quickly, seeing my friends struggle to keep Capricorn engaged. "Capricorn has been missing from the Spirit world for many years. He went missing one day, but we knew that he hadn't disappeared into stardust, so he was still alive. But…although that is Capricorn's body, it doesn't feel like Capricorn!"

"Not Capricorn?" I asked, extremely confused right now; but now wasn't the time to be confused, it was the time to be in action. "That doesn't matter right now, Sagittarius! He's the enemy, so we need to stop him! I'm going to help out my friends, so I want you to back me up, just like how you did in the forest, okay?"

Startled out of his shock, Sagittarius nodded determinedly. "Alright, moshi moshi!"

Quickly giving my spirit a fleeting smile I dashed forwards to engross Caprico_rn _in battle. There was no way we were going to be beaten here!

* * *

**3****rd**** Person P.O.V.**

Loke knew that there was no way that they were going to win here. Not at all. Capricorn – because Loke _knew _that it was his old friend, Capricorn, not Caprico – was simply too strong. The spirit had retained his degree of mastery in hand-to-hand combat, even after all these years, and whoever the person was that had altered his old friend, had made the spirit learn an old (and forbidden) magic. Human Subordination took the magical and physical power from humans and made them null and void, making it extremely useful in close-combat and-

Humans. _The magic took power from __**humans, **__not spirits!_

"Guys!" Loke called back to his friends, being the only one currently fighting Capricorn. "You need to leave now! You've got to leave Caprico to me!"

"What the hell are you talking about, man!" Shrieked back Gray, sounding extremely angry as he launched several icy lances towards Capricorn. "There's no way we're going to leave you!"

"Definitely not!" Chimed in Cana, flinging more of her Shuriken cards at Capricorn, narrowly missing the goat-man himself, but tearing several cuts in his tuxedo top. "Who do you think we are; deserters? People who don't care about their nakama? Mad?!"

"You guys don't understand!" Loke replied, jumping back from Capricorn to recuperate and to talk to his friends. "Caprico is actually-"

"Capricorn," came the cold interlude from Lucy as she stepped up to stand beside Loke. "He's a Celestial spirit that went missing from the Spirit world years ago."

"You're quite right there," said Capricorn coolly, a smirk apparent on his face as he dusted himself off. "I am indeed Capricorn, but I am only the _body _of Capricorn."

"What do you mean by that?" Asked Cana warily. "How can you just be the body of Capricorn?"

The goat-man adjusted his glasses, the black lenses gleaming briefly in the mockingly bright sky. "The body belongs to Capricorn, but the mind and, more importantly, the _soul, _belong to me! Zoldeo!"

"Zoldeo?" Lucy murmured, "that name sounds familiar…" Shaking off any wafting thoughts, Lucy focused back on the task at hand. "Loke, do you know what he's talking about?"

"Not really," replied the spirit tersely, "but you guys have to leave, now! Whoever this guy is, he uses Human Subordination, which reduces people's magical and physical attacks."

"Yeah," Gray interrupted irritably, "you've already told us this, Loke, so what the hell do you want us to do what information?"

"He can't use his magic against Celestial spirits," informed Loke, flaring his magic to change his clothes from regular t-shirt and shorts, to his usual tux. His hair ruffled out into its usual length, showing his transformation from Loke, mage of Fairy Tail, to Leo, leader of the Zodiac spirits.

"I thought you were familiar," remarked Zoldeo absently, "I just didn't realise you were Leo, a Zodiac spirit."

"Yeah, well," snapped out Loke, "you better believe it. Guys," Loke said back to his nakama, "leave this bastard to me since his magic won't affect me. I can defeat him while you guys go and make sure that the others aren't being ambushed by similar people from Grimore Heart!"

"No!" Burst out Lucy, "I'm not leaving you here alone!"

"We couldn't defeat him and there were four of us!" Countered Gray angrily. "What makes you think that you, _by yourself, _could possibly defeat him?!"

"Don't you guys trust me?" Said Loke softly, eyes trained on the faintly amused Zoldeo who stood, waiting for them to make up their minds.

"Of course we do," Cana replied, "but that doesn't mean we would just _abandon _you!"

Loke heaved a sigh, eyes flickering shut, before focusing his whole attention on Zoldeo and no one else. "If you guys trust me, then you would trust me to protect you guys. It's not something about honour or sacrifice, it's logical that I fight this guy, since his magic won't affect me. So if you trust me, then you'll believe that I can win."

Gray's eyes widened at seeing his friend so determined, but they relaxed, along with his strained heart. "Okay, buddy, we'll trust you."

"Gray!" Protested both Lucy and Cana.

"No," Gray cut across the two girls, "we should leave now, so Loke doesn't worry about protecting us. We trust him, so we should trust him to win this for us. He's trusting us to protect ourselves and our nakama by finding the other bastards who've trespassed on our grounds, and beating them into a pulp for even thinking about going up against Fairy Tail!"

At seeing Gray's conviction, Cana bowed to Loke's will. "Okay then. We'll leave, but you better not die, Loke!" She yelled out to the Lion spirit who stood in front of her before beginning to walk away with Gray.

"I won't ever do that to my nakama," murmured Loke in response. "Lucy, you have to follow them."

"No." The blonde glared at him as Sagittarius came behind her to give her moral support. "If you want us to protect our nakama, then I should be here, protecting _you. _You're my nakama, my spirit, and my partner, I am _never _leaving you behind to face an enemy without me!"

"Luc-"

"Never, Loke! I fight beside my spirits, Loke, you know that. So let me fight beside you! I am strong enough to do so now, I won't let you down!"

"Lucy," Cana tugged on the blonde's arm, but Lucy tugged back, making Cana release her. "No! I'm not going to let my nakama down again!"

Loke snapped. "Just leave already, Lucy! I'm not putting you in danger, okay!"

Rather than being cowed by the Lion's harsh words like she once would've, Lucy merely straightened her shoulders and stepped up to stand beside Loke, Sagittarius dropping into place on her other side. "No, Loke. I will not stand by as one of my greatest friends puts himself in danger, that isn't how I work, and you know that. I may have once listened to you, but I would've been weak and unprepared. Now, I am strong, and I want to be strong beside you."

The Lion spirit wavered before giving into his summoner's whims. "Alright, I'll let you stand beside me, Lucy. We are comrades, and that's where we should be."

"Right!" Lucy nodded to Loke before turning around to smile reassuringly at a hesitant Gray and Cana. "It's okay guys, go. We'll handle this guy A-Okay!"

"I'm trusting you, Lucy-chan!" Cheered Cana, gaze solidly on Lucy before flickering to her two spirits that flanked her protectively. "And I'm trusting you two to keep her safe."

"Of course."

"You can count on me, moshi moshi!"

Gray merely nodded to his nakama before leading Cana away, the two dropping into a sprint as soon as they got a few paces away from the imminent battle.

But Capricorn wasn't going to let them go that easily. "Hunter of Belperaso: Samagui!" An olden style hunter appeared in a golden flash, rather reminiscent of the summoning of a Celestial spirit. "Get the two who are trying to escape!"

As the hunter, Belperaso, sprinted for Cana and Gray's retreating forms, he found his legs entangled by a glowing whip, resulting in his motion being used against him as he slowly tripped. Before his body could hit the ground, a swift arrow pierced through his side, Sagittarius dispersing the Human Subornation in a spray of golden particles.

"Good work, Sagittarius!" Cheered Lucy, high-fiving said spirit happily. "Excellent teamwork! It's like you read my mind! Well, friends working together can accomplish anything!"

"Moshi moshi!"

"I remember who you are now," hissed out Zoldeo, surprising his three opponents from their small victory celebration. "I remember you!"

"Who are you talking about?" Asked Sagittarius.

"The blonde hair…yes, so much like your accursed mother's!" Zoldeo let out a roar and surged forwards before anyone could react – especially Lucy. "I'll kill you for daring to be related to that bitch!" The previously composed goat-man began to attack in blind fury, making the three friends scatter to dodge his approach.

**Sagittarius, Loke and Lucy vs Caprico/Capricorn/Zoldeo**

"How do you know my mother?" Gasped out Lucy as her opponent went for her again, his large fists swinging dangerously close to her face every time she bent away from him. "And what did she ever do to you?"

"She made me like this!" Roared out Zoldeo, barely noticing the arrows he was dodging, courtesy of a determined Sagittarius. "That bitch made me like this!"

"What do you mean?!" Keened Lucy, her gloved hands deflecting several punches and kicks that left her arms stinging.

At seeing her confusion, and wishing more than anything for this _reminder _of the cause of his pain to know what her mother was really like, Zoldeo began to spin a tale of how Layla, slowly dying Layla, gave Zoldeo Capricorn's key to keep the Goat spirit safe for her in between exchanges of physical attacks.

Zoldeo would have to wait for the day that Lucy was old enough to wield her own keys properly before handing Capricorn over to her. But Zoldeo, festered and maddened with greed and darkness, used his magic to try and make the spirits soul and body his own, but it resulted in his soul being trapped forever in the goat-man himself. He was doomed to forever be stuck in Capricorn's body for breaking one of the taboos of Human Subordination: using his magic on someone either than a human.

"I have missed my body," remarked Capricorn as Loke exchanged places with Lucy to give her a rest, the Lion's rage at his summoner's minor injuries nearly rivalling Zoldeo's own festering fury. "And it's all because of Layla that I am stuck in this stupid _goat _body!"

"That's your own fault!" Loke pushed out a burst of magic in form of a Regulas Punch, resulting in Capricorn being flung back into the surrounding ruins. "You're the idiot who broke the taboo, not Layla!"

"It's all Layla's fault!" Screeched Zoldeo, rolling as he stood up to miss one of Sagittarius's arrows. "And since she's already dead, I'll kill her daughter in retribution!" The goat-man began to stumble towards Lucy, but found his way blocked by an enraged Loke. "Like hell you will!" The Lion spirit delivered a fierce uppercut to the mad man, lifting him up into the air.

Seeing his chance, Sagittarius went to shoot for the momentarily suspended body, but noticed his summoner already running towards Zoldeo, brushing by a ruined wall as she did so. The Archer spirit changed his course of aim and shot a few arrows at the wall, digging them into the wall as they went steadily higher.

Lucy was shocked by the sudden appearance of three arrows in the wall in front of her, but she noticed how they went up the wall in a step-like formation. The blonde smirked and added a mental reminder to lavish Sagittarius in praises after this was over as she reached the arrows.

Stepping up onto the first arrow at a sprint, Lucy noted of the arrows buoyancy and used it to step up to the next one. Ignoring the third arrow, Lucy bounced off the second arrow and leapt into the air, twisting to the side so that she would hover over the descending form of Zoldeo. Raising a leg, Lucy used the drop of the appendage to roll tightly to face down, rearing back her right hand as she did so. Feeling the comforting grip of her red gloves, Lucy took courage of it and plunged her hand down, impacting with Zoldeo's exposed back and sending them both hurtling towards the ground at a far greater speed.

For the second time in the past hour, Lucy impacted with the ground, but indirectly. Zoldeo's front impact with the ground and he let out a gurgling sound as Lucy's whole weight, all focused towards her fist, really impacted into his back. His body bowed in half as Lucy's fist pressed into his spine, making some of his vertebrae pop and erupt from the strain. "Argh!"

Lucy wasn't completely unscathed, though. Her entire weight was on her right arm, and as she came down, it bent the appendage to a ridiculous degree. The blonde tried twisting to the side, but she a bit late as her wrist strained from the weight and she threw herself to the side. She rolled away from Zoldeo, already clutching her burning right arm. "Ugh…!"

"Lucy!" Loke was instantly by his summoner's side, hands hovering in worry over her trembling body as it curled up around the injured appendage. "Where are you injured?!"

That doesn't matter right now, Loke!" Lucy hissed out through the pain, "just get Zoldeo, or whoever the hell he is! Now!"

The Lion spirit nodded and stood up, prepared to beat the crap out of the bastard they had been fighting, but found Sagittarius already there, pulling back an arrow and pointing the arrow point right between the goat-man's eyes.

"Sagittarius!"

"It is only a precaution, moshi moshi!" Informed Sagittarius calmly, arrow not wavering from its position. "In case he tries anything."

Loke nodded in acknowledgment, his anger barely reined in as he left an injured Lucy to advance on the gasping form of Zoldeo as he attempted to clutch his injured spine. "My…back! Argh, the spine!"

"You mean this…?" Loke asked the rhetorical question coolly as he placed a shining, polished, black shoe onto the enemies back, applying pressure slowly. Zoldeo screamed in answer, body thrashing through the pain. "S-stop it!"

"He's done," Loke nodded to Sagittarius, "there's no way he can keep fighting." The Lion spirit turned around, intent on going to his injured blonde, but Zoldeo wasn't going to let him do that.

The goat-man batted away Sagittarius's arrow and managed to swipe the Archer's feet from underneath him, the force of the fall making Sagittarius's grip on this world disappear. The spirit disappeared in a flash of gold as Zoldeo went after revenge. The delusional man then staggered up, roaring with pain and anger as he readied his magic, and lumbered towards Loke. "Prepare yourself, Leo!"

Loke turned and took in Zoldeo's stance, recognising the tabooed magic that he wasn't about to do. "Human Raise won't work on me, I'm a Celestial spirit!"

"But with my taboo," snarled Zoldeo as he charged himself with more magic, "I can take your body for my own. Human Raise!"

A dark form drifted out of the goat-man's body, lunging for Loke, who ducked underneath the form and punched the newly freed Capricorn's body with a Regulas Punch.

"You're too late!" Shrieked Zoldeo as his dark, wispy form twisted back to enter through Loke's back, making the Lion gasp and arc his back as he shudder.

"Loke!" Yowled Lucy as she looked upon her shuddering friend. "Loke!"

The handsome spirit's body straightened out and a dark look came over his face. "There's no Loke here anymore, Layla's daughter."

Lucy choked back a strangling lump in her throat and attempted to get up. "What did you do to him?! Where's Loke?!"

The possessed Loke cackled, something that was very strange and twisted on the normally charismatic spirit's face. "I've taken his body for my own, that's what! There's no more Loke inside here!" Zoldeo chuckled as he brushed his hands over his new body. "yes, this body will do nicely. So much better than that horrendous goat body."

"Mehbe you should pay attention to the goat body," came Capricorn's voice from behind Zoldeo, making the man turn with wide eyes. "Impossible! My possession of you should've wiped out your conscious! You shouldn't be alive!"

Capricorn glared at the person who possessed him previously, raising one of his arms. "Regulus is at full strength." A ring gleamed on his hand, the golden shine become more apparent as he charged more magic to the accessory. "Regulus Beam!" Capricorn thrust his hand forwards and released a brilliant beam of light that curved towards the screaming body of Loke, cutting a perfect hole through his chest as it went.

Loke's body began to fall, but not before Zoldeo's true body came tumbling out. As Loke tried to breathe and regain his strength – Lucy hovering worriedly over him – Zoldeo looked in shock at his human hands. "I…I'm free. I have my own body! I'm free!" The wicked man then seemed to realise something as he abruptly turned to a composed Capricorn. "H-how'd you even stand up? How are you still alive?"

"When Leo punched me," began Capricorn, "he transferred his power to me and gave me enough power to stand up and blast Regulus Beam into you two. I apologise for the crude method," Capricorn said to the form of Loke who was slowly standing up with the help of Lucy – well, only her left arm really, as her other arm was too injured to be of much help.

"It's fine, Capricorn," panted out Loke in reply, "it's the only thing we could do to separate us both. Regulus is holy light, so it separated the dark from light and split us out from each other."

"And gave me my body back!" Laughed Zoldeo triumphantly. "Now I can-!"

"You can't do anything," cut in Loke, "you are simply a shadow of your old body, not really in this plane of existence. You can't do anything with that new body since it won't be around long enough to do anything."

"No!" Wailed Zoldeo as he noticed dark particles beginning to flake off his torso and arms. "This can't be! This can't happen!"

"Better believe it," spat Lucy, repeating Loke's previous words.

Zoldeo snapped his head towards Lucy, eyes blinding in their fury. "You! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT! I'LL KILL YOU!" Somehow staggering upright, even though his body was slowly disintegrating, Zoldeo staggered towards Lucy, murder in his eyes.

A blinding kick to his face stopped him in his tracks. "No one will hurt meh master, Lucy-sama." Capricorn kicked Zoldeo in the head, his leg passing straight through the appendage as Zoldeo's body and magic finally gave up and let go of its physical form. Zoldeo disappeared into gleaming particles of dark energy before, they too, disappeared with the lilting wind.

"It's over," heaved out Lucy, legs beginning to tremble with the effort of standing upright and supporting Loke with one arm – Sagittarius had disappeared into the Spirit world, relieving her of the strain of holding his gate open. "It's finally over."

"Yes," Loke sighed along with his summoner, exhaustion evident in his posture as one hand clutched the gaping hole in his chest that was leaking golden specks. "That bastard's gone."

"I apologise, Lucy-sama," Capricorn said, bowing to the blonde, "for my-"

"You don't need to apologise, Capricorn." Lucy smiled tiredly at the spirit. "None of that was your fault; you were controlled and unaware of your actions."

"But I wasn't there for you during all those years, Lucy-sama," Capricorn frowned behind his glasses, "even after I swore to protect you to Layla-sama."

"That's alright, Capricorn," reassured Lucy.

"It's alright," informed Loke, "if you lend your power to Lucy."

"I can not lend my power to Lucy-sama," said Capricorn cordially, "for my power already rests with Lucy-sama and whatever she fights for." The spirit bowed deeply to Lucy, "I shall give you everything I have and follow any order you give me."

"Oh, Capricorn," said Lucy tearfully, amazed by this one spirits devotion to her mother and, by default, herself. "You don't have to follow any orders; I _ask _my spirits to help me. I ask my _friends _to stand beside me and fight."

Surprised, Capricorn nodded slowly, "I understand, Lucy-sama. But if I may, could I please go to the Spirit realm, alongside Leo, of course, to recuperate? It has been seventeen years since I have been home, and I wish to see all of my old friends."

"Of course!" Lucy said, astonished at how long the spirit had been out inside her world. "Go, the both of you, and rest! You both deserved it!"

Capricorn bowed before disappearing in a flash, his key happily joining his friends on Lucy's keychain, which she fingered, equally as happy.

But Loke didn't leave yet. He whirled Lucy around to face him. "Are you sure you'll be okay? You're injured." Here, he gently touched Lucy's right, gloved hand that was already beginning to swell slightly. "And who knows who else could be out there."

"I'll be fine, Loke," reassured Lucy, "go and rest. As I said, you deserved it." And before Loke could protest any more, Lucy forced his gate close.

As soon as the spirit disappeared, Lucy slowly sunk to the ground, left hand clutching at her strained right hand. "Oh Mavis…" Her right hand was so painful that she could barely move her wrist or flex her fingers. Ironically, the pain and swelling stopped around where the gloves ended. And speaking of gloves…

"I have to get the gloves off," Lucy murmured tearfully, "or else I'll have to cut them off later on when my arm swells up too much." Tears already escaping her eyes at the mere thought of the pain that was to come from removing the glove, Lucy gritted her teeth and began to peel away the edge of the glove.

It was _excruciating, _the level of pain that could come from one meagre seeming injury. Lucy gasped and sobbed out breaths as she slowly pulled the glove off, revealing one scar…two scar…and with a heave and a short, muffled scream of pain, Lucy tugged off the last of the glove, almost throwing it away as she tried to get as far away from the offensive accessory as possible.

Gulping down deep breaths to calm herself down, Lucy peeked at the arm, preparing for the worst. But it was fine. Well, as fine as a slightly swollen arm could be; and the added scars that curved across the barely bloated, pale expanse.

Only Wendy, Carla and Cana knew of the scars, and Lucy would prefer that no one else would learn of them; they were a reminder of her weakness and inability to fight.

A tear dropped onto the jagged scar that cut across the pink Fairy Tail mark. _"I'm still too weak…"_

* * *

**Ughh….fuck. That was horrible! So much research and it was so confusing with Capricorn changes names every fucking five minutes! (And there was a reason that I put 'mehbe,' and 'meh,' in Capricorn's dialogue, as the spirit actually pronounces his words like that). But it ended somewhat alright…I hope.**

**The fight ended exactly the same as canon, but Lucy was strong enough and brave enough to fight back against Loke this time round when he told her to leave, so she and Sagittarius were with Loke. And the order of events were slightly out of place in spots since Lucy was asking more questions and whatnot.**

**So I hope no one was too OOC and that you enjoyed this chapter. I probably won't release another one for a little while since school is about to start again soon. Fucking tests…**

**Anyway, ciao and have fun doing whatever you're doing!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Bon soir! How are all of my little baguettes today? Good, oui?**

**Okay, I'll stop the French – especially since I have no idea how to speak or write it – and just say this…**

**I love you guys very much and I am immensely grateful for your fantastic following of this story. This is its tenth chapter, and it's nearly reaching its hundredth review. I'd like it to reach a hundred with this chapter, but that's just being illogical. But either way, I am loving your support and I reckon that this fandom is the most fantastic one that I've been able to write, or daydream, about; the never-ending flow of genius ideas is a testimony to that.**

**So, thanks once more, and here's the next chapter!**

* * *

**Disclaimer: **_I don't own the beautiful characters in this anymore than I own the fabulous storyline!_

**Warning: **_Fighting and language, most likely – this _is _me we're talking about, right? BTW, I don't regret anything I've done in this story! Not at all, hahaha!_

* * *

**3****rd**** Person P.O.V.**

After a quiet moment of scrabbling for her normal cheery disposition, only broken by a few tears and dark thoughts, Lucy slowly stood up. She fetched her discarded glove and tucked it into her belt, placing the other glove beside it when she removed it.

Taking a deep breath, and avoiding her scarred and injured hand, Lucy set off to find Cana. Or anyone, really. She had heard explosions earlier on, and could only assume that they were her nakama fighting the enemies invading their holy island.

'_And meanwhile,' _her thoughts sneered, _'you've been here snivelling like a little girl. Some nakama you are. Your friends are laying their lives down, and you're crying over some stupid scars. Man up, girly, and go and show your enemies what true fury is like!'_

Slightly taken aback by this new wrathful, but strangely empowering, voice in her head, Lucy nodded hesitantly. The voice encouraged her some more, roaring out commands to bathe herself in the glory of victory.

Feeling enlightened now, Lucy placed a determined look upon her face before racing off, trying to find her next opponent to defeat. She'd beaten one already, what's another enemy as a trophy?

She deserved it, after all.

* * *

Half an hour had passed since Lucy had started running through the island, darting in between trees and following barely-seen trails before going off into forest once more. She had no idea where she was going, and she didn't really care; all she wanted to do was to stumble across one of her nakama's battles and help them out.

About ten minutes earlier, an explosion had rung out, making Lucy charge towards where she remembered the camp had been set up, and the blast had occurred; she only hoped that no one had been injured. Not long after it, though, another explosion had occurred; this time accompanied with a brilliant beam of light that had burst up towards the sky.

Worried by the massive surge in energy, Lucy had changed direction and had ran towards it, slightly mollified that this explosion was closer than the one that could've happened at the camp.

The blonde was panting by the time she crashed into the first person she had met in the past thirty minutes.

Squeaking slightly at the sudden sensation of falling backwards, having rebounded off the solid person, Lucy flailed her arms wildly, trying to find purchase in the air to stop her fall. Suddenly, strong arms wrapped themselves around her waist, and Lucy's nose was filled with the sickly sweet scent of flowers as she was caught by an unknown person.

Her body was bent backwards, but not at an awkward angle. Oh, no. She was now dipped back in a romantic gesture, face flushed as she looked into the bespectacled eyes of a startling handsome man.

"Oh," the man said in honey-sweet tones, "I've seemed to have picked a delightful rose. How sweet." The man curved his mouth up in a bare imitation of a smile as his shimmering hair rustled softly in a breeze – like some sort of actor from a romantic movie. The ones that were perfect, no matter the shot.

The whole thing seemed surreal to Lucy, as it appealed to her romantic side. The blonde flushed some more, eyes wide and demeanour shy as the man straightened them both up, hands not leaving Lucy's waist. "My I ask this…perfumed flowers name?" The man beseeched, eyes glinting with amusement as he looked at Lucy's face.

Lucy's face! Lucy's Goddamn _face! _Not her ample boobs, or long, slender legs, or toned and bare stomach. Her face, like she was something with a soul, and personality! Honestly, the blonde felt so flattered right now that she could feel herself fainting dead away!

"Lucy…" the blonde murmured, still attacked by shyness. "And you are…?"

The man – who looked perfectly regal in his casual, fur-lined jacket, turtleneck shirt and pants. His hands gloved in white, and his silver glasses holding blue lenses, which tinted his eyes the same dark hue. It added a level of mysteriousness to him, as Lucy wasn't sure what exactly his eye colour was behind the deep depths – raised a thin, perfectly-manicured eyebrow in reply. "Lucy? That surely is a beautiful name. To match a beautiful face," he finished, brushing his fingers under Lucy's chin, which had her flushing prettily by the contact. "T-thank you. But you didn't say what your name was…"

The man stepped back from Lucy, hands (disappointingly) leaving her waist as he thrust his arms out wide with a flourish. "My name is Rustyrose! Admirer of beauty and all things that symbolise it!" His mouth curved in a devilish smirk that only appealed to Lucy more. "And member of Grimore Heart."

Oh…

Well, there goes Lucy's plans for falling in love and marrying this man.

Reacting quickly, the young woman went to snatch up her whip with her right hand, before remembering it was injured. She dropped her whip with a hiss, the canister holding the magical coil of whip rolling across the grass.

A booted foot stopped it. Rustyrose bent down and delicately picked up the black tube, admiring it as he held it up to his eyes. "Fascinating…"

Lucy didn't like his cultured movements, or educated speech anymore. It made her think of home, and the suitors that visited her there, and that just made her feel ill.

Licking her lips in her rising feeling of panic, Lucy quickly ran through a series of options of what she could do as Rustyrose tinkered with her whip – obviously he was toying with her. Was going to catch her unexpected when she relaxed herself at his seemingly absent stance and state of mind.

He had obviously not faced a mind as sharp as Lucy's. Although she was slightly embarrassed about the way she had reverted to the lovesick, yearning schoolgirl as soon as she saw a mildly attractive-looking male, Lucy was determined to fight this man and defeat him. No matter what.

Quickly, and awkwardly, reaching with her left hand, Lucy attempted to grab her keys and summon a spirit – Virgo, perhaps – but found it stopped by a length of blue glowing rope.

"You're using my whip against me?" Lucy asked Rustyrose incredulously, brown eyes glaring into his own bespectacled pair. "How dare you."

"It's quite an interesting contraption," Rustyrose said, unconcerned by Lucy's anger. "It really didn't want to answer my magic's call – it's quite bonded to you – but I managed to _convince _it with sweet words and the beauty of my soul."

Just then, Fleuve d'étoiles sparked. Golden particles of magic dribbled from the container it was normally kept, and Lucy gasped in horror as it momentarily short-circuited. She took advantage of its weakness to pull her arm through the barely substantial strand wrapped around her wrist, but quickly began to yell at Rustyrose. "You broke my whip! How dare you! You bloody bastard! You'll pay for this!"

"Pay in what?" Rustyrose mused. "Magic? Heart? Soul? Pain? All are such poetic endings – all will be someone's end." The man continued to drizzle on, sounding like a poet stuck on a loop, continuously playing the same tune – in his case, suffering and beauty.

"Open gate of the Virgin: Vir-!" Just as Lucy was about to finish calling for one of her most loyal spirits, using her left hand, she suddenly found herself being held at sword-point. The blonde gulped, feeling the black blade press itself warningly against her throat.

Rustyrose smirked at the frozen girl, his right arm held out towards her. Halfway down, his arm turned into a solid black colour, the steel glinting in the sunlight that trickled through the trees canopy above. Instead of a hand, he now had a dangerously sharp and long sword that was split into five, each one looking like fingers, or claws, of a monstrous hand. The middle 'claw' was currently pressed against Lucy's throat. "Jet Black Sword."

"W-what the hell is your magic?" Lucy managed to gasp out, carefully of not letting her neck scrape against the claw currently pressed lightly against her jugular. "That sword…thing…just appeared out of nowhere!"

"My magic?" Rustyrose quirked his eyebrow once more. He then adjusted his glasses delicately with his left hand. "Well, it's a wondrous thing called; Arc of Embodiment. It's a magic that is simple in theory; if you're smart enough to understand."

Lucy scowled. "Your petty attempts to insult me aren't going to work; I've chewed up guys with more guts than you for breakfast!"

"My," sighed Rustyrose, "it seems my first impression of you was wrong; you're not a delicate flower at all. You're just as crude as those ruffian guildmates of yours that I dealt with mere moments ago."

Lucy could've swore that her heart stop beating at that instance. "W-what? Who the hell are you talking about?! You better have not hurt my nakama, or I'll-!"

"Or you'll what?" Rustyrose's words were easy, but there was a hard edge in his voice as the claws of his sword stroked Lucy's face, reminding her that her life was in his hands at that moment. "You can do nothing at this moment; you're simply a weak little weed that is going to be crushed under someone's foot someday. I'm just lucky that I get to be the one to crush you." At his words, the claw-like sword wrapped itself around Lucy's throat with a mere thought from Rustyrose. The tight and powerful grip that the sword had on Lucy managed to lift her off the ground, and the girl gurgled as her throat was slowly crushed.

"You are so much easier to kill than that _buffoon _and his little girlfriend with wings. She thought she was a fairy, could you believe?" Rustyrose scoffed to himself, managing to make it look regal and elegant, even though he was holding a girl by the throat as she scrabbled and scratched at it in a weak attempt to get free. "Preposterous, the both of them! That great ape of a man is too stupid to live in a world of beauty that will come with Zeref's arrival, and that woman's head is far too high up in the clouds to even be considered to live; even as a slave."

"Ev-evergreen…and Elfman…are worth t-ten of you…" Lucy gasped out, one eye rolling to glare at Rustyrose. "Y-you could…never kill them…!"

"Ah, but I already have, trash." Rustyrose smirked at Lucy, before his eyes narrowed slightly behind his glasses. "I grow tired of this. You are too weak to give me any challenge at all; I shall not have you sully my hands anymore."

With that, Rustyrose flung Lucy away from him with a flick of his Jet Black Sword. The blonde went flying away from him, unable to stop her momentum as she tried to blink the black dots from her eyes and breathe again. Powerless to move, she crashed into a tree. Her back bent as it hit the unyielding wood, and her head slammed back to hit the trunk with a sickening thud. Shavings of wood fell alongside Lucy as she collapsed to the ground in a crumpled heap; like the discarded trash she was.

Disorientated, Lucy tried to lift her head and assess the situation she was in, but found herself dipping and swaying dangerously into the surface of unconsciousness. The mild concussion she had probably gotten from hitting her head played havoc with her senses; her eyes barely focusing, and her ears only catching snippets of what her enemy was saying to her.

"Amazing…still alive…some worth in you…but it's so sad that…to die in the Garden of Eden…No one will miss you, I'm sure." Rustyrose's voice began to come into focus once more a Lucy scrabbled for the feeling of her body lying on the ground, and the sticks digging into her skin – they meant that she was alive, and still had a chance.

_Get up. Get up, Lucy. _That little voice inside her head began to speak up again, encouraging her, beckoning her towards consciousness. _Hurry up and get up! Fight back! You will _not _be defeated here! You swore on your magic and life as a Celestial mage that you would be strong – where's your strength, Lucy? Lucy of Fairy Tail, not Lucky Lucy of the Heartifilia Konzen! STAND UP AT FIGHT! SHOW HIM THAT-_

"You should take me seriously…" Lucy breathed out shakily, senses focused, as well as her mind. Her body blurred into motion as she swept Rustyrose's feet from underneath him – as he had approached her with the intent of killing her off. The man fell down with a slight groan, and Lucy pounced on him.

Fighting with everything she had, not caring that she was fighting dirty, Lucy jumped on Rustyrose and began throwing punches left and right. It didn't matter that her right arm felt like it had been doused with fire every time she moved it, or that her vision swam in warped waves, or even that she could feel Rustyrose's sword bite into her skin here and there; she was fighting, and showing that she, Lucy of Fairy Tail, wouldn't go down without a fight.

Even if it cost her the life she had now, Lucy would avenge her fallen nakama, and ensure that no one else could get hurt by this mad man. So she growled, and bit, and scratched, and kicked, and punched, and did every single violent movement she had ever picked up from Erza on this man.

And it seemed to be working.

At least, until Rustyrose remembered that he could do magic, either than his sword.

With a strangled yell, Rustyrose dispersed his sword-arm and summoned up a golden shield on his left arm, promptly slamming it into Lucy's face, trying to throw her off. It seemed like it would work, as Lucy's face bent away from him, and they was a spurt of blood as her nose either began to bleed, or something broke in her mouth, but the girl's arms didn't leave their excruciatingly tight hold on his arms.

As soon as Rustyrose retracted his shield for another attempt at hitting Lucy in the face, the blonde was back into the motion of beating him with everything she had. The two rolled across the ground, bodies bouncing off trees and each other as they grappled for dominance. Rustyrose, with his golden shield and enraged face as he wedged his weapon under any area of Lucy he could get to, trying to pry her off him. And Lucy, clinging on tightly as she spat blood to the side whenever her busted lip filled up her mouth with the red liquid, legs thrashing and arms pin wheeling as she tried her best to physically beat her opponent into submission.

Under no account, was this battle something that would be considered to be worthy of high-class mages – of which both Rustyrose and Lucy were. It was gruelling, dirty, and most of all; raw. The emotions rippling off Lucy was palpable as her face contorted with determination and pain, each swing of her fist making the former expression waver, before hardening once more.

The two mages continued their fight across the ground, barely noticing when their roving battle sent them hurtling down a steep hill. They bounced harder than before as the slanted level sent them rocketing into the air, still trading blows, before landing solidly and awkwardly, usually making the battle pause for a mere millisecond as the two contenders tried to orientate themselves once more.

A vicious punch from Lucy had Rustyrose's glasses, perched _still _so jauntily on his perfect nose, shattering lenses and warping steel frames. The glasses cut bitterly against Rustyrose's pale skin, drawing blood that only added to the large amount that Lucy had already drawn. But, as karma was a bitch, the hand that Lucy had punched with was her right, and new, red-hot pain raced up her arm, making her abruptly scream shortly.

Taking advantage of this momentary weakness, Rustyrose slammed his shield upwards once more; this time, aiming for the tender skin underneath Lucy's chin. The golden, unbreakable shield struck true, and launched Lucy into the air with a snap as they reached the bottom of the steep slope they had been journeying on for the past few minutes.

Lucy landed, crumpled once more, in a heap a few metres away from the tiredly panting Rustyrose, as he lay at the bottom of the slope and tried to regain his breath, as well as composure.

After taking a moment to collect himself, Rustyrose stood up with a mild grunt, cuts, bruises, and his joints all protesting loudly at such a movement. He staggered over to still form of Lucy – the only sign that she was actually alive was the bare tremors wracking her body – intent on finishing off this blonde trash. Once and for all.

* * *

Breath leaving her in a massive gusty sigh, Cana stared in awe at the large chamber-like room she was in. "I found it…" she whispered, "Mavis Vermillion's grave."

Tiny particles of light drifted around her, winding in intricate dances that she couldn't follow the steps of. They seemed to guide her forwards, towards the simple moss-covered stone at the back of the chamber.

Reaching towards the grave, Cana, entranced by the mysterious stone, tried to touch the holy rock. Instantly, a golden barrier flared up around the grave, and an electric shock went up Cana's arm, making her yelp and draw back in surprise. Runes appeared around the grave, glowing softly in the chamber with an unknown source of power.

Cana barely noticed her knees touching the moss-padded floor, her eyes too focused on the runes that she was translating off from the barrier. "Here lies one of the three great magic of Fairy Tail: Fairy Glitter." Unsure of what this meant, Cana peered past the runes to read the engravings on the grave. "Mavis, it really is…Mavis. I've found the grave! I've won this trial!" The brunette gasped, delighted and yet, unsure. "I'm an S-class mage! At least, I should be."

Chewing her lip, the drunkard peered around the brightly-lit chamber, searching for something – anything! – to prove that she had completed the trial, and was now worthy to take her place as Gildart's daughter; as she should've years ago.

Her searching proving to be fruitless, Cana let out a cry of frustration. Her hands slammed into the stone ground in front of Mavis's grave. Tears began to prick at her eyes, the sensation that used to be so foreign, now familiar as the taste of booze; she had cried so much recently, enough to make it feel like she would never stop again.

"Why…?" The girl whispered brokenly, "why aren't I S-class?" She snapped. Tossing her head back, curly hair flying, Cana howled to the cavernous ceiling lost in the clouds of shadow so high above. "WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT FROM ME?! I'VE SPENT MY LIFE TRYING TO BECOME S-CLASS, SO THAT I COULD FINALLY GET THE FATHER I WANTED! NOW WHAT? DO YOU WANT ME TO WASTE ANOTHER TEN YEARS OF MY LIFE?!" Heaving in a breath, Cana tried her best to continue. "I dedicated my life to learning magic, so that I could be a mage strong enough to be Gildart's daughter. I try and drink my sorrows away, and yet I keep getting reminded of my failure…"

Now feeling the tears tickle her cheeks, and slowly make their way to her chin, Cana hung her head. The mossy ground swam in and out of focus, the salty liquid coming from her eyes marring her vision. The girl continued to kneel there for a few minutes, until she couldn't ignore the sensation of buzzing by her side.

Sniffling, Cana sat back on her haunches and dipped her hand into her side bag. Foraging around for a moment, Cana drew the vibrating card out, coming face to face with a mini-caricature of Lucy, complete with 'HELP ME!' and a flashing arrow that directed her towards the blonde that was in trouble.

Cana cursed. "Now I've failed my friends…damn everything!" Choking down her tears, and the urge to tear the card into shreds in her frustration, Cana looked at Mavis's grave pleadingly. "I didn't mean to betray my friends…I swear. But, please, Mavis…could you help me? I don't know what to do anymore…but I just want to help me friends. Even if I'm a failure, I'm sure I can do something. Even with my mistakes, I hope that I can help my friends."

The brunette reached forwards once more, her hand going through the barrier with no resistance and brushing against the cool stone. "Please…help me fix my mistakes."

"Mistakes can better the heart, Cana." The softly-spoken voice seemed to echo around the room, coming from everywhere, and yet, nowhere. "I understand your heart now, and you are worthy to wield one of the three magics of Fairy Tail. I shall give you Fairy Glitter, but you must go and help your friends."

Eyes wide in surprise, Cana could only watch as golden magic wove itself around her arm, creating a tattoo of intricate proportions upon her arm. "Mavis…"

"Go, Cana."

Nodding briskly to herself, Cana stood up and turned, mind already racing as she tried to determine where she could find Lucy, with the card in her hands helping her along. 'I will save my friends with this power. No matter what!'

A blonde-haired girl watched her go, perched lightly upon her own grave. Her green eyes watched after one of her fairies, disposition sad and longing as her mind went through all the possibilities that could happen with the situation at hand; none of them were good.

* * *

Raising his arm, Rustyrose transformed it into his Jet Black Sword once more, gaze malicious as he looked down at the blonde curled up at his feet. His expression turned darker as he plunged his arm down, intent on plunging it through her exposed side, and tearing it through her weak lungs and fragile heart.

As his sword neared its mark, Lucy's eyes flew open and she kicked out at the man attempting to take her life. Her foot hit home on his leg before the sword could plunge into her side. Thrown off balance, Rustyrose's body jerked as he tumbled backwards, his leg making a tremendous cracking sound from the solid force from Lucy's ridiculously strong kick, having been honed to a dangerous degree by Erza's training.

Rustyrose howled in pain as his broken fibula brought him crashing backwards, but the sound was harmonised by a piercing scream of pain; female in pitch.

Having not kicked out early enough to complete move Rustyrose's sword aside, Lucy caught three of the claws with her side, the strong attack having carved through her like a hot knife through butter. The claws trailed blood through the air as Rustyrose fell, and Lucy screamed not long after, the pain receptors in her side having sent the pain of the injury to her brain, where it registered with an onslaught of agony that washed Lucy's conscious away momentarily.

Barely managing to see through the waves of pain crashing over her, Lucy caught sight of her opponent still so close to her, and attempted to crawl away. Her body protested immediately, and she let out a shriek muffled by the ground as the wound on her side flared up again. She could definitely feel warm blood wetting her side now, and that was a cause of panic as she continued to attempt to move away.

Next to her, Rustyrose groaned, his left leg completely immobilised by the broken bone attempting to bust its way out of his skin. The leg throbbed harder as he attempted to sit up, but he pushed it away; he had faced worse things and come out on top, this blonde trash was no different.

Quickly surveying his leg, and finding that the bone wasn't _too _displaced – it wasn't sticking out yet, after all – Rustyrose turned his attention on the heavily bleeding girl who was attempting to crawl away, her right hand scrabbling uselessly at the ground, the limb basically useless as the wrist was obviously strained.

Managing to grin maliciously through his pain, Rustyrose began to lurch towards her, his left leg dragging behind him, a dead weight. Lucy heard the scuffling sound of a body moving across the leaf foliage that cushioned the ground beneath her, and began to sob in despair; she wasn't going to win here, was she? She wasn't even going to survive. She was a failure, again! Even after all her training, all of her efforts to get stronger, to become someone worthy to carry the name of Fairy Tail, she was still a scared, and _weak _little girl.

Slumping forwards, all fight leaving her, Lucy managed to turn her head to the side, determined to look into her killers eyes as she died – at least then he would hopefully have trouble sleeping at night.

As she looked into Rustyrose's steely grey eyes, sparking with madness, Lucy could only feel sad at the fact that she couldn't help to protect her friends. She had faith, though, that they would pull through this ordeal and emerge victorious. They were Fairy Tail mages, after all.

Rustyrose reached the blonde, left hand wrapped around a large rock that he had tugged out of the ground. He would've preferred to kill her with his magic, but the earlier fight with the two idiots who bickered had left him tired, and the continuous switching between his shield and sword only amplified that. The effort of holding his body together and upright had also drained him as well, making him only strong enough to muster up a few images out of magic; there were illusions, though, and hardly something to kill someone with.

And so, raising the rock high above his head with both hands, Rustyrose braced himself for what he was about to do. The pain in his leg ebbed away as he looked into the dark brown eyes of the blonde he had been fighting for a while now. She glared up at him, daring to do the deed – he had to admire her spirit. She wasn't weeping or wailing about unfairness, or begging for mercy, like all the others he had killed. She was…not content exactly, or smug, or even sad or happy, it was a bit of all of those emotions.

Her eyes seemed to say that she was sad to go, but more than happy to have gone out properly; she was content with the knowledge that she had fought to her best ability. The smugness he was less sure about. But as a small smile lifted up her lips as his arms descended, Rustyrose could read her words in her eyes; _'Even if you kill me here, my friends will avenge me. For every injury that's on my dead body, they'll pay you back ten-fold. So laugh while you can, because you don't have much time left.'_

Angered by those thoughts, Rustyrose let out a guttural yell as he slammed the rock down. It hit with a loud thud.

* * *

Cana stopped in the middle of the forest. The card…it…

Beginning to sob now, Cana rushed forwards again, following the direction the arrow had been going before it had cut out, and the card had…_died._

**(A/N: MWAHAHAHA! So tempted to leave it there, but that's just cruel, and I haven't wrote anywhere **_**near **_**enough to satisfy me!)**

* * *

Trembling against the pressure of the gravity holding him down, Natsu tried to raise his head once again, but to no avail.

He was tired. That was it. He had already fought Gildarts in the morning, having being beaten down into submission by fear. He had then versed several of the monsters ravening the island, before facing down that freaky dark-haired guy, and getting his God-damn scarf turned black! If that wasn't enough, he had to verse that freaky dude who thought he had better fire powers than him! Ha, he'd shown him! But he had been injured in the process, and only Wendy's healing skills had meant he was still conscious and fighting, and his scarf was back to white.

Proceeding that adventure, Gramps was injured, and wouldn't even let him fight back in his honour! Then he had caught wind of that Zalty dude from Galuna Island, and it turned out he was a chick! What the hell? Didn't anyone stay the right gender here? But after chasing her scent down, and finding her with that freaky black-haired guy, Natsu didn't even get to verse her! Instead, he got fobbed off onto this weird sumo-looking guy who kept trying to steal one of Natsu's hair to do this voodoo stuff on him – according to Happy.

It had taken some skill and power – as that guy was _strong, _not matter how weird he looked – to defeat him, and Natsu was half-dead on his feet by the time Wendy caught back up to him and healed him.

Carla then had explained that there was a whole bunch of people hurt back at camp, and that they should head back to help protect them. Natsu had agreed, and he, Happy, Wendy, and Carla went racing off to camp, only pausing to send Doranbolt back to the Council's ships so that he could stall them from attacking.

After a short run towards the camp, the group had been waylaid by this total prick called Bluenote, who proceeded to sprout bullshit about how he didn't care about Fairy Tail, or Zeref, but merely wanted to find Mavis's grave and obtain the magic from it – whatever the hell it was, as Natsu had no idea what he was talking about.

Thinking that this guy was a total blowhard – all air and no fight – Natsu had charged at him, only to be knocked into the ground by an invisible force.

It turned out that the dude with the ape-like face used Gravity magic, and was really powerful; and judging by the way he tossed Natsu and the others around, the hot-headed mage had to agree.

Now he was lying in the bottom of a massive crater, glued down by Bluenote's magic. Wendy, Carla and Happy were nearby, all of them caught in his magic as well; it didn't look too good. But Natsu was determined to beat this guy. Even if it took all of his magic – from today and from what he could squeeze out from tomorrow – and he was injured beyond belief, Natsu would beat him.

Just as he was trying to peel himself off the stony ground once more and rush at Bluenote, a new figure came racing into the clearing they were in, and skidded to a stop at the rim of the crater.

Hazily wondering if it was his blonde-haired partner, Natsu managed to raise his head up some more, and focused his gaze on the newcomer.

Cana was standing there, body rigid as she glared across at Bluenote. Her normal laughing brown eyes were captured in a frozen state, their depths cold enough to burn as they stared into Bluenote's. Tears leaked from them continuously, and her body trembled from withheld grief as she did so.

"C-cana-san!" Wendy managed to squeak out, having managed to raise her head as well and look at the person who had entered the premises.

Barely sparing Wendy, as well as the others caught in Bluenote's magic, a glance, Cana focused her entire attention on Bluenote. "Did you do it?"

Slightly taken aback by the frigid tone, practically humming with anger, Bluenote tilted his head before answering. "I don't know what you mean by that."

"The hell you don't!" Cana snapped back, her cold image melting away as more tears poured out of her eyes and her trembling became more evident. "One of you Grimore Heart bastards did it, and you were the one closest to where the card was pointing to! So let me ask you again; were you the _bastard _who did it?"

"I'm afraid I still have no idea what you're babbling on about," rumbled Bluenote, not concerned by the brunette's anger. "I haven't touched any fairy trash either than these weaklings."

Natsu roared in anger, and wriggled around on the ground, raring to clamber up the side of the crater and punch this bastard in the face! Now, if only this magic would release him…

"Well," hissed out Cana, "if you won't tell me who did it, I'll just have to pry it from your beaten lips!" The girl raised her arm, baring an intricate swirl of black that made up a tattoo-like thing on her arm.

'Cana's never had a tattoo,' mused Natsu, 'I wonder how she got one here? Is there a tattoo place or something on the island? I want one then!'

Meanwhile, Bluenote sucked in a sharp gulp of air. "That's…"

"Fairy Glitter," smirked Cana, "the magic that's going to beat your ass into the ground!"

Bluenote schooled his expression back into a blank, careless one. "Trash like you could never control such power; give it to me and I won't hurt you or your friends too much." He then flexed a hand out to the side, pushing the captured Fairy Tail mages into the ground deeper to emphasis his threat.

"Mavis gave me this power herself," growled out Cana, cocky expression turning to anger and despair once more. "And I'm going to fix my mistakes using it. I'll fix mistake number one by turning your ass into dust!"

"And what mistake might this be?" Bluenote asked, curiosity barely appearing in his voice.

"Abandoning my partner," Cana bit out, eyes flashing dangerously.

Perking up at this sentence, Natsu turned with a confused look towards Cana. "What do you mean you abandoned Lucy? Where is she, Cana? Why'd you abandon her? What's happening to her now?" Pausing to take a breath and think, Natsu reconsidered his questions. "Nah, I don't need to worry; Lucy's plenty strong, she's probably fine. She has that playboy lion as well, if anything goes wrong."

At his words, Cana turned an expression onto him that he couldn't pick out; was that, pity? The brunette shed more tears towards Natsu, before turning back towards Bluenote, fire in her eyes. "I'll defeat you here! Right here, right now!"

"You can try," scoffed Bluenote, "only a mage with true power can wield Fairy Glitter; you don't look like you can meet the cut, fairy."

"Oh, I'm bound to surprise you."

"Hmph, we'll see."

Wendy stared up at Cana as she faced off with the Grimore Heart mage, face etched with concern. "Cana-san…"

"She'll be okay, Wendy." Happy assured the girl from his sprawled position behind her. "Cana's a Fairy Tail mage, and she seems really angry; that never bodes well for our enemies."

"Happy is right," Carla agreed reluctantly. "Cana would not be so foolish as to challenge an opponent who could easily beat her. She seems angry and determined to win; those are both dangerous mixtures for whoever she faces."

Slightly mollified by these responses, Wendy relaxed slightly, body sagging into the ground once more as she gave up to the Gravity magic pinning her down. Natsu wasn't so easily placated. All he kept seeing was that flash of sadness and brokenness in Cana's eyes as she looked at him, and studiously skirted around answering his questions about Lucy. Was Lucy…okay?

Gritting her teeth, Cana flung several cards towards Bluenote, intent on blowing him sky high before taking him down with Mavis's magic. However, Bluenote merely exerted his will and flicked a few fingers, sending the cards sailing off course, where they blew up several trees and carved new chunks into the landscape. "Pathetic."

"I'll show you!" Pulling out several cards, Cana continued to fling them at the Grimore Heart mage, explosions, bursts of elements, and puffs of smoke obscuring the downed Fairy Tail mages sight of the duel.

In the smokescreen, Cana continued to throw everything she had at Bluenote, biding her time and hoping to weaken the man as she did so. The man, on the other hand, was growing bored as he continued to bat the cards away. Some he flung away, and they crashed harmlessly into the forest before setting off whatever spell they held. Others, he simply imbedded into the ground at his feet, negating the magic as easily as breathing. Three landed at his feet, and he scoffed in disgust. "You are weak. So much that you can't even throw cards straight."

"Oh?" Cana raised any eyebrow, face still gleaming with tears, before she flared her magic out. Instantly, a magic circle bloomed into life underneath Bluenote's feet, shocking the man. "What is this?"

"That's to keep you in place," Cana commented scathingly. She then drew three cards and waved them at him. "These are to send you into a world of pain!" She tossed them with a flick of her wrist, and they dug into the ground at the cardinal points. Concentrating her magic, Cana activated her spell.

A wave of hot fire exploded around Bluenote, and instantly began to weave itself around him, reaching out with fiery tendrils to place burning kisses against his skin. The man frowned and attempted to bat it away, but found whatever spell she had cast beforehand was keeping him in place.

Focusing now on disabling the trap and keeping the fire from burning him, Bluenote didn't notice Cana begin to summon up an enormous amount of magic, her right arm beginning to glow with a brilliant light.

"For Lucy…" she whispered, before leaping up above the flames and aiming her arm down towards Bluenote, who could barely be seen in the inferno of fire she had summoned. She activated Fairy Glitter.

Gleaming light erupted around Cana before blasting down towards Bluenote, enveloping the surrounding area in a holy glow. Wendy, Carla, Happy, and Natsu watched with wide, awed eyes, but Natsu's was wider and more shocked; _for…Lucy?_

When the glow died down, it revealed Cana flipping neatly in the air before landing on the ground lightly, arm smoking slightly as she glared down balefully at her defeated, and, also, smoking opponent. She was sure she would've lost if she wasn't so determined, or driven; she had felt his magic break her entrapment spell and begin to push against the power of Fairy Glitter. But the anger and pain she had felt from losing Lucy meant that she had the drive to push on, and overwhelm Bluenote. Whereas, if she didn't have the push of avenging her friend and saving her nakama's lives…well, it wouldn't have ended so successfully.

Sighing, Cana looked up into the blue sky and hoped that Lucy was proud of her; wherever she may be.

The moment of silence and quiet sadness was broken by the sounds of Happy cheering as he peeled himself off the ground, running over to help Carla, and then Wendy, upright as well. "Cana did it! That weirdo's defeated!"

'Weirdo…' Natsu thought as he stood upright, eyes trained on Cana as she stared up into the sky, barely seeming to notice the tears running down her face once more. "Cana…!" The girl turned as her name was called, eyes dark. "…What is it, Natsu?" She sounded reluctant to talk to him, and Natsu felt his stomach drop out a bit, a strange sensation for him. Why, he hadn't felt this way since…_he thought Erza had died._

Swallowing such thoughts, Natsu looked hopefully up at Cana. "Where's Luce? You said that you, uh, abandoned her, but you must've just lost her, right? Lucy's always getting lost, that weirdo! So I'm sure we can find her alright! I mean, you had a card that could find her, yeah? You can just bring it out and we can go find her!" Natsu's grin was so wide that his eyes were squeezed shut. "So let's do it!"

Cana didn't speak. Instead, she pulled out a card and chucked it at Natsu's feet.

Confused, the fiery mage picked it up and fiddled with it. "What the hell is this? It's a blank card, Cana, what am I supposed to do with this? The finder cards you use have people and stuff on them, this is blank. What the hell am I supposed to do with this?"

Perplexed by what the two were talking about, the other three gathered, two exceeds and one little girl, and walked closer so that they could scan the card, and hear what Cana would say next, which sent one of their stomachs dropping and hearts breaking.

"That was Lucy's card. It directs me to wherever she is when she's in trouble." Cana's voice sounded dead as she spoke, eyes reflecting her tone. "I followed it a while ago after finding Mavis's grave, but halfway here…it _died._"

"Your cards never usually malfunction, Cana." Chirped Happy, poking at the card with its blank sides. "What'd you do to screw up?"

With her eyes trained on Cana, Carla's mouth twisted down in sadness; she understood. Ever since she had heard of these exams, her sixth sense had been going haywire. When she had arrived on the island, a feeling of dread had been welling up inside her. This was merely the overflow of that.

That vision Carla had experienced before going on that job with Lucy, Wendy and Juvia was of the exams, Carla knew that now. The end image was the one she was going to see soon, it made sense now; Natsu screaming.

Screaming, no. He was howling in despair, and now that she was thinking back over it, she remembered the tears in his eyes. Yes, he had been informed then, just as he was about to be now.

"I didn't screw up, Happy." Cana's voice was thicker, like it was harder to put her words out. "The only time my cards fail is when I don't have enough magic, and they usually just don't activate, not turn off like that. The only time a card goes like that is before I put a function on it, or whatever it's tied to…disappears."

"What do you mean, Cana-san?" Wendy asked, confused about the whole situation.

"I MEAN LUCY'S DEAD, OKAY?!" Cana suddenly burst out. Her eyes were clenched shut as more tears poured out, and her head tilted down as she flexed her hands into fists. "MY CARD FAILING MEANS THAT SHE'S DEAD, AND I'M THE ONE WHO FAILED! I FUCKED UP, OKAY? I LET MY BEST FRIEND DIE, AND NOW I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE HER BODY IS, OR EVEN IF THERE'S ONE TO FIND!" Heaving out breaths now, trying to find any oxygen to replenish her lungs, Cana found herself screaming out in anger and frustration, her cries echoing back to Gildarts as he smashed through the last of the trees, prepared to fight the Bluenote-guy who was obviously hurting one of his more favoured guildmates.

However, when he emerged from the tree line, Gildarts found himself in a clearing with a massive crater in it – signalling that the battle had, in fact, already begun, as he had thought. An unknown man (the presumed Bluenote) was lying near the edge, body and clothes smoking with his eyes rolled up into his eyes, showing the whites, with burst capillaries arcing their way across them.

Looking away from the slightly nauseating sight, Gildarts caught sight of Cana standing not too far away from the man, hands balled up against her face as she wept her eyes out – obviously she hadn't taken defeating her opponent so well (Gildarts assumed that she was the one to defeat him, as she was closest and there was still a residue of magic clinging to her). He stepped forwards to head towards her and comfort her, but found himself distracted by a howl of anguish that came from the crater.

Prepared to face an opponent, Gildarts was shocked when he saw Natsu, kind-hearted, always cheerful Natsu, scream in rage and sadness. Flames licked their way up his arms and legs, and Carla and Wendy had to drag away a completely shell-shocked Happy, lest he got burnt. The two females were crying as well, tears running down their face as they each held one of Happy's paws as he began to tremble violently.

Just what had happened here?

"Cana…" Gildarts spoke up tentatively, not sure how to approach the situation, with Natsu screaming in the background and being engulfed by flames and all. "What's happened? What's going on?"

"Dad," croaked out Cana, sniffling as she wiped snot from under her nose. "Lucy…she's gone."

"Gone?" Gildarts repeated, before he suddenly caught on to what Cana had said just before. "Wait. Dad?"

A strangled laugh came from Cana's lips, a poor imitation of her usual brash laughter. "Yeah, imagine that. It took my twelve years and my best friend's death to tell you that I'm your daughter; sad, isn't it? After mum died, I went to the guild to find my father, but when I met you, and found out you were so powerful, I…I couldn't say anything. How could I, Cornelia's meek little daughter, be Gildarts, Fairy Tail's most powerful mage's daughter? It was unheard of! And I kept working up the courage to tell you, but you were always on jobs, and I was still too weak, and I-"

Cana's babbling was cut off as Gildarts rushed forwards to hug her, his musky smell enveloping her alongside his warm tattered cloak. "Cornelia…she was the only woman I loved and married, you know? If I knew that I had a daughter…things would've been so different."

Surprised, Cana could only stare forwards with wide eyes. Slowly, realisation came to her, and she smiled softly, new tears appearing her eyes – this time, of happiness – before she hugged her father back.

She had waited so long for this. This moment was…_horrible._

Ears tuning back into Natsu's screams of rage and anguish, and the faint sounds of sobbing, Cana quickly pulled away, tugging her arms from Gildarts's unwilling grip.

"Cana. Sweetie, what's wrong?" Gildarts tilted his head, brow furrowed in concern as he looked over his child's sad face. "What is-oh." Now he remembered. "Lucy. That blonde-haired girl. You said she was gone, right? Is that why Natsu's going berserk?' The well-aged man turned around to see Wendy, as well as the two exceeds, had scrambled out of the crater, and were huddled to the side together, tears pouring down their face as they watched the spectacle going on inside the crater.

Gildarts frowned at the massive ball of flame that was Natsu, the flames obscuring all sight of the rose-haired boy. He knew that after Lisanna had 'died,' Natsu had disappeared into the forest for a whole week, and had destroyed a large portion of it by the time Gray had found him and dragged him out, but this was ridiculous. He wasn't handling this well at all.

Mind made up, Gildarts slid down the crater, marvelling at how strong the flames were, as the heat burnt at his stubble from twenty metres away. Approaching the ball of fire, he pulled up his magic and went to work with exploding the flames. It took a while, and he got burnt several times, but Gildarts managed to completely disable the flames around Natsu, finally revealing the boy.

He was hunkered on the ground, not making a sound anymore, just letting the tears roll down his face and hit the ground, where they hissed and evaporated due to the superheated ground. He let out a whimper, before rubbing furiously at his eyes, a growl building in his throat. As Gildarts got closer, he could hear the whispered mantra that was being emitted under Natsu's breath.

"_Lucy's not dead. Lucy's not dead. Lucy's not dead."_

The words went around in a loop, never missing a beat unless Natsu added in a 'Lucy would never die!'

Sighing in sadness – although Gildarts didn't know the girl well, he had heard several stories from an excited Natsu whenever he had come around in the last week, and the other guildmembers had said wonderful things about her – Gildarts stepped in front of Natsu and placed a large hand on his shoulder, barely wincing at the sizzling sound and sensation he got from placing the appendage against the burning boy. "I'm sorry, Natsu."

"She's not dead!" Natsu yelled out, standing up and slapping Gildarts's hand away, eyes ablaze in his fury. "Lucy couldn't be! She would never die! She wouldn't die because…because…"

"No one's immortal, Natsu," Gildarts rumbled quietly, voice solemn. "Everybody leaves us at one point, and we all simply follow. No matter what we say, or do, they all go on, into the next world. Your friend, Lucy, she's a Celestial mage, right? So I imagine she's gone up into the stars, alongside her spirits, and is roaming the heavens now, excited to be bright amongst the stars she loves so much.

She's probably sad, too, that she had to leave you, but I bet she's making it her job to watch over you, and making sure that you don't go and do something crazy, like you always do." Gildarts smiled at the boy, eyes crinkled shut. "Lucy's going to watch you from the heavens, okay? And maybe, one day, you'll go and see her in the stars as well. Everyone's day comes, but until then, you stay strong and smile for her, so that her star shines brightly down on you forever."

Eyes shining as his nose ran and tears dribbled down his face, Natsu looked up at Gildarts. "But I don't want her to be a star; I want her to be right here, by my side, as Lucy of Fairy Tail. I don't want to look up at the sky every night to find her, I want to look to side and see her straight away." He broke off, wiping at his eyes. "Lucy isn't meant to leave without me! We're partners! You can't leave a partner behind, that's not how it works!"

"I know, Natsu." Brushing a hand against his spiky locks, Gldarts could only smile sadly, knowing what the boy was going through. "The world isn't always fair, and sometimes it takes things from you-"

"But Igneel was already taken from me!" Natsu burst out, too tired to catch aflame again. "I don't want to give anything else up any more!"

"It's hard, but that's how the world is." Gildarts looked over to where Cana was watching him, body wracked with sobs. "Sometimes it will give you gifts; in which you'll treasure them forever, even they don't want you to, or they try and hide." Cana's smile was painfully thin and watery, but it was a start. Gildarts then looked over to where Wendy was holding Carla as they cried, and Happy gazed pitifully at him, dark eyes obscured with tears. "And sometimes those gifts are taken from us, and they are lost to us forever. But you must remember," he smiled at Happy, "the memories and feelings those gifts have given you will never go away. They are _yours _to keep, and even the world, or fate, can't take that away from you."

Gildarts finally looked back at Natsu, eyes sad. "So even though life feels horrible now, you have to remember to cherish what your gift has given you, and never let that part go. When it rains, look for rainbows. When it's dark…look for _stars._

Look for your star, Natsu, because I'm sure she'll always shine beautifully for you."

* * *

**That was an interesting chapter, wasn't it? I changed a lot of things here. Ah well, hope you liked it. :D**


	11. Chapter 11

**Uhhhh, sorry?**

**Okay, so I **_**may **_**have been a little late in getting you guys this, but pleasedon'thurtmeI'm toofabuloustodie!**

***Sigh* I really don't have an excuse except the fact that I had no idea what to do with this story. But fret not, my pretties, as I have been enlightened and will endeavour down this path some more!**

* * *

**Disclaimer: **_I'm pretty sure the real Lucy's alive and well, not dead like she is here._

**Warning: **_Eh, language, maybe violence, some feels and….*GASP!* NaLu FLUFF? Heck yeah!_

* * *

**3****rd**** Person P.O.V.**

Sniffling softly and wiping at his eyes, Natsu attempted to pull himself together again, knowing that, this time, unlike Lisanna, the situation wasn't the same.

There was no chance that Lucy was going to be sucked to a parallel world, as they had closed the rifts there, and that she was going to be alive and well a few years later. No. That was a childish wish, and one that would hurt him in the long run. And this one even hurt differently.

When Lisanna had died, it felt like there was a vice around his heart. Anger constantly simmered around him, mixing with grief to make a dangerous concoction. With Lucy's…_passing_, it felt like the world had ended around him, and that fire wasn't fun anymore. It was like his flames had been snuffed out, and it was ten times worse than when his ex-best friend died, or even when he'd thought Erza had.

It was the worst pain imaginable, and it was only getting worse by the sense of exhaustion and defeat weighing him down.

Gildarts had begun to usher Natsu, Wendy, Carla and Wendy towards the camp to recuperate, but along the way, a terrible cracking sound had sounded out. The ground had rumbled beneath their feet as the group looked up to see the beloved Tenrō tree, the source for Fairy Tail's magic, fall down in a majestic display of falling limbs and scattering leaves.

As soon as the tree had hit the ground, exhaustion had settled itself across all of the Fairy Tail mage's shoulders, weighing them down to the ground.

Gildarts attempted to keep walking through the tiredness, but found that even his great power could not stand if there was nothing to back it up.

Behind him, Wendy had fallen to the ground beside Happy and Carla, nearly weeping as she found the whole situation hopeless. First Lucy had died, and then the tree had fallen? What was going to come next; another nakama's death, or the end of the island itself?

Not far in front of her, Natsu had tried to shake it off the feeling of fatigue, but found himself unable to do so. The mixture of grief, despair and lack of magical power had sent him to his knees, and he was finding it hard to get back up and push on. What was the point in defeating this guild if one of his most precious nakama was already gone – gone to where he could not follow for a while?

So he had lay there as his nakama continued to try and get up and move, listlessly staring at the ground. He had ignored the bellows of anger from Gildarts, or the irritated but stricken chidings from Carla, or even the high-pitched shouts of encouragement from Wendy and Happy. No, he ignored them all. But he couldn't ignore them when they had managed to stand up, recuperating from the loss of their magic, and were over the top of him, tugging and pulling at him. They were defiantly strong in the face of losing their close friend and most of their magic.

In fact, if there actually had been any fights going on, bar the emotionally-based fights of Erza and Azuna, as well as Gray and Ultear, then maybe more grief would've been put on the fairies than they could've taken. But seeing as there was no Rustyrose to fight, both Bickslow and Freed managed to recover fine and well at the camp, and they were able to make sure that all of the injured were okay and well protected. Gildarts didn't have to fight Bluenote, as he was already defeated by Cana, and so he had more than enough magical energy to pick Natsu and Wendy up, as well as scoop up the two accompanying Exceeds to take them all back to camp to recuperate, as well as tell the others of the bad news.

* * *

Sighing softly, Mavis drifted over the unconscious form of one of the people who attempted to hurt one of her fairies.

His eyes were rolled into the back of his head, showing off bloodshot whites. His nose was slightly crooked, a gash swiping itself across the pale surface. The hair that might've once been perfectly coifed was now rumpled and matted with dirt and blood, dirtying the sliver tone. The clothes he wore were cut up and destroyed, blood seeping into the materials here and there. All in all, Rustyrose wasn't the pretty, perfect picture he may have once been. No. The fight with Lucy had destroyed that, and the last attack had erased all evidence of this fact.

The petite, ghost-like figure known as Mavis Vermillion hovered over him for a moment, assessing the damage she had wrecked on him, before turning to the important matter at hand; the crumpled form of Lucy Heartifilia.

Of course, you couldn't tell that it was our Lucy, let alone a human being, through the thick, golden sphere that surrounded her, but Mavis knew better; she was the one who had placed the mini-version of Fairy Sphere on her, after all.

But Mavis needed to revoke the magic she had placed on the young woman; the blonde was needed elsewhere. She was needed to bring back the spirit of her young fairies – especially that pink-haired dragon-fairy – and to stand beside them and fight; to take back the island that was theirs to protect.

So, with a heavy heart that weighed down her insubstantial body, Mavis knelt down and brushed away the golden, holy magic that had kept the girl protected from Rustyrose's attack, as well as burnt his dark, tainted soul with the purity that came from Fairy magic. She then placed a gentle kiss against Lucy's temple, pouring just a bit more of her pure magic into the girl to heal the worst of her wounds.

Lucy shifted slightly as the large slices in her side began to slowly close up. Golden particles of light seemed to dribble out of the wound, before swirling around her to go heal another part of her bruised body. Her right wrist straightened out slightly, and the swelling around it died down. The split in her lip sealed up, and any trace of a head-injury that could have lingered from the fight was quickly smoothed out. Soon, you couldn't even tell that Lucy had been in a fight, bar the blood caking her side and face, as well as her torn clothes and the dirt caked on her body.

"It's not much," Mavis murmured as she placed a soothing hand on Lucy's forehead, gently brushing back her bangs, "but it's the least that I can do for one of my fairies." She then glanced down to the scars through Lucy's guild mark, and then looked across to the grooves that cut through her black tank top – staining it an odd shade with blood as it did so – and left hip. "Especially for one who has struggled so much already."

Mavis stepped back and let herself fade from the mortal plane, becoming completely intangible to everyone, especially to any Fairy Tail member. She then continued to stand and watch as the blonde curled up at her feet stirred and slowly awakened. It wasn't without struggle, as obvious exhaustion and pain tried to pull her down into unconsciousness once more, but Lucy battled on bravely, and eventually opened hazy brown eyes to the live world.

"Ugh…" Lucy grunted, hands instantly going to the side she knew to be injured, only to find no blood gushing from it, nor jagged scraps of flesh peeling off her slowly, like she expected. Instead, she was met with rather thick, raised abrasions that weren't weeping any kind of liquid, and only stung to touch. Sure, it was covered with dried blood that made her skin itch, but it was almost like Wendy had been healing her for an hour straight.

But, upon sluggishly raising her head, and ignoring the headache that came with it, Lucy found that she was in the exact same place as when she fell unconscious. And there was absolutely no signs of life anywhere near her.

She said that, because the crumpled form that was once her opponent, lying right nearby, was obviously not alive. Not at all.

Shuddering slightly and turning her head away from the ghastly sight, Lucy began to struggle to her feet. Only, she found it much easier than she expected.

Sure, her body was stiff and sore, and she couldn't bend or twist her body too much for fear that she would break open her mysteriously healed side, but her right wrist felt fine and her lip was only barely swollen. And even her headache was beginning to clear up!

Carefully clasping her hands together in front of her chest, Lucy sent a silent thank you to whatever being was looking over her, not seeing the little girl watching her with sad, but proud eyes.

"Go on, little one," Mavis whispered to herself as she watched Lucy get her bearings and her keys that were lying nearby, intent on getting back to camp. "Go back to your nakama and rally them once more; I fear that the fight ahead will need all of your heart's strengths."

Almost as if she heard Mavis's words, Lucy chose a direction and hurried off, excited to meet up with her nakama and find out if they were okay or not. But before she left, she grabbed hold of Rustyrose's jacket hood to drag him with her.

She was strong and compassionate, even after all that had happened to her. Not spiteful and heartless like the man she had defeated – or, at least, she thought she had. Who else could've done it?

But anyway, she would take the man's corpse to the sea and let it float out there as a last grave. He deserved that, at least. Not for his body to be torn to pieces by the monsters on the island.

She was compassionate, after all.

* * *

It was chaos at the Fairy Tail base camp.

And not the usual type of chaos that seemed to follow Fairy Tail wherever they went. No. This was a chaos of emotions as no one knew exactly how to react to Cana's choked comment of Lucy's death.

Some, like Levy and Mirajane, burst into uncontrollable tears, their bodies shaking and quivering so hard that Gajeel was scared that Shrimp was going to come apart. He tried his best to console her as Lisanna petted Mirajane's hair, being careful not to jostle her sister too much as she was still recovering from Azuma's attacks on her.

The two sisters were curled up on a sleeping roll, both tearfully lamenting about the absolute unfairness of the whole situation. Only a few minutes before Natsu, Cana, Gildarts, Wendy and two of the exceeds came to the camp with the bad news had Elfman and Evergreen stumbled in. They had both instantly fallen unconscious, and were now lying beside Mirajane, bandages wrapped around them courtesy of Freed and Bicklsow.

Wendy, tears still in her eyes and sobs caught in her throat, tried her best to heal their injuries, and continued to offer up her services to other people after fixing them up as best as she could. Carla trailed after her, half her mind on her charge's wellbeing, and the other trying to see the future and what it could bring – but it was all white noise.

Erza, exhausted and sore after barely beating Azuma, slumped on a log, her gaze as blank as Gray's expression as he lounged stiffly beside her. Neither of them had said a word, merely turning their bodies away from the camp and speaking to each other in low tones. And if people saw their shoulders shaking or tears falling, they didn't say a word.

Unsure of what to do with a crying Gray, and of the whole situation, Juvia hovered awkwardly nearby, her pretty face looking like it was melting from the amount of water dripping from her eyes. Her distress was causing her concentration to waiver, and her form to occasionally drip and ripple. She had arrived with Gray to hear the news, only just having woken up from an unconscious spell that had happened while she was following Meledy and the black-haired boy she was carrying. Now, thought, she was merely crying and silently weeping, because that was all that she was good for! But Gajeel, after picking Levy up to place beside him so that he could keep an eye on her, stood stoically beside Juvia, giving her some strength by his mere presence. And she couldn't be more grateful for it.

Freed and Bickslow, the people who knew Lucy the least and was, therefore, the least affected, tried to keep everyone somewhat going. Freed set up runes to protect the camp, one eye trained on the injured and Wendy, lest she drop from magical exhaustion, but his mind and hands working furiously to protect them. Bixcklow followed after him as his lookout, his babies set up around the perimeter to warn him of any attacks. His helmet was pushed back and his glowing eyes searched the undergrowth that crept around the clearing they were situated in, almost expecting an attack to come burst out of nowhere.

In their rotation of the camp, they passed by a distraught Happy, trying his best to quieten his cries and clear the snot from his face. He was perched on a rock beside Natsu, his trembling eyes occasionally going to his partner, as if to check that he hadn't gone up in smoke. Pantherlily had attempted to talk to him after informing people of the location of Grimore Heart's base, but the blue exceed hadn't said a word as he watched Natsu.

The Fire Dragon Slayer in question hadn't said a single word either since talking to Gildarts back when he had first found out of Lucy's demise. His face was stony and unmovable when he had brushed past a pleading Erza and broken Gray to sit on a rock, his back pointedly directed towards the rest of his nakama. He had sat there for the past few minutes, arms crossed as he ignored Gildarts nearby, who was comforting a teary and guilt-ridden Cana.

"It's my fault," she kept pleading to everyone, self-loathing and guilt chasing circles around her face. "I shouldn't have left her. It was all for my own stupid fucking purposes that I left her alone. Fuck, I'm so useless and worthless and—"

She would've gone into more despicable rants about herself, had not Gildarts wrapped her up in a massive hug and Makarov, his face solemn, cut her off, saying that it was no one's fault.

"Bar fucking Grimore," Gildarts interjected, eyes smouldering with righteous fury. "Their Master is going down so hard that the ground will shake!"

Makarov couldn't help but agree, although his mind was caught up on the actions of the previous Master and what they had caused, rather than what they would be returned with. He knew that they had to finish this off soon, but he didn't know if his brats were ready for such a confrontation so soon. He, himself, was barely prepared to face down anyone who came to threaten anymore of his brats' safety, let alone head our after 'Hades.'

Just as the old man decided to maybe sit down and talk to Natsu, Bickslow was shouting out about someone approaching the camp. His eyes could pick up a soul slowly picking its way towards them. Not an especially bright one, but he could've swore that it was familiar…

At his words, everyone scrambled to find a somewhat intimidating fighting stance, even though most of the females was still crying and sniffling.

"Whoever they are," Freed spoke up, "they won't pass through my runes. They are written so that no one without the Fairy Tail mark can come through."

"Um, Freed," muttered Bickslow, eyes still on whoever was coming through the undergrowth, making slight rustles as they did so. "They just passed through your runes."

"What?" Freed gasped out, eyes wide as he tried to comprehend what was going on. His runes were impenetrable, unless you had Rune magic like he did, or a Script-type like Levy. Even then, it would take a few minutes to get through it. You couldn't just pass through it! But it seemed like the intruder had just done the impossible.

Everyone prepared themselves for some sort of enemy to come flying out of the bushes, magic already pouring out of them as they stood stiffly. They weren't at all prepared to see Lucy come limping out of the bushes, her right arm dragging the crumpled form of a man they didn't recognise.

"Holy shit," she gasped out in a tone that was undeniably _Lucy_ as she tossed the man down and shook out her arms. "Do you know how hard it was to find this camp?"

The blonde looked perfectly alive as she sulked slightly, albeit rather beat up with the blood caking her left side and down her face. It was still dripping slightly from her chin as she talked, showing how recently that the injury was invoked. Although, she hardly seemed to notice as she continued to rant to her stunned audience. "I was walking forever! And this guy's extra weight didn't help a bit." She kicked the body at her feet, looking completely disgruntled and mildly disgusted. "Bastard."

Levy was the first to snap out of the group of Fairies surprise. She launched herself forwards past everyone else with a tearful cry of "Lu-chan!" before flinging herself into the surprised blonde's arms. "You're alive!"

"Alive?" Lucy repeatedly dumbly, her eyes switching between Levy and the frozen faces of her nakama, taking note of their red eyes and tear tracks not yet dried up. "Why the hell would you think I was dead? I mean, yeah, I thought that I was going to die. And yeah, I kind of thought that I was totally dead for a moment, but…"

"My card died!" Cana cried out as she rushed out to fling her arms around Levy and Lucy. "I thought you were gone! My cards would only stop working if whatever they were linked to disappears. My card was linked to you and your presence, so when it stopped working…" The brunette sniffled wetly, her face pressed deeply into Lucy's hair. "I was so scared…"

"We all were, Bunny Girl," Gajeel spoke up, leading the rest of the collected Fairy Tail members to Lucy. "The fuck were you doing to fuck this whole shit up?"

"It's not my fault!" Lucy snapped back as Erza and Wendy came up alongside Gray to make sure that she alive and well. "This bastard here attacked me and I had to kick his ass to make sure that he didn't hurt anymore of you guys!" She kicked the body at her feet that everyone had been studiously ignoring in search of proof that their namaka was alive.

At seeing the incapacitated body, Wendy hurriedly bent down, hands glowing blue as she began to do a medical scan of him. Before she could get a good reading, though, Lucy was snatching her hands away and dragging her upright, making several people stumble back a few steps at the sudden movement.

"Lucy," Erza began, confusion etched in her brow. "What on Earth—"

"Don't." Lucy said it so softly that Erza almost couldn't pick it up. "Don't touch him."

Just as Gray was going to enquire why not, Lucy was carefully rolling the body over to reveal the man's face twisted into agony. The blonde ignored everybody's recoiling action as she softly dragged Rustyrose's eyelids down to cover his bulging and capillary-burst eyes.

"He's dead," Wendy said quietly, eyes looking at Lucy rather than the body. "Isn't he?"

Carla carefully squeezed the girls hand with her paw as she stared at the body, wondering what kind of magic Lucy had used on the man to make his skin blister like that.

"Un," Lucy agreed noncommittally, looking decidedly uncomfortable with the whole proceedings. "I don't know what happened when I fell unconscious, but when I came to, he was like this. Just lying at my feet, all…dead looking."

Freed looked at Cana with a puckered brow, his mind working furiously. "Could it have been Lucy falling unconscious that had caused your card to cease function?"

The brunette shook her head in answer from her position by Lucy's shoulder. "No. My card would've kept transmitting, even if Lucy was unconscious." Cana was standing rather close to Lucy, almost as if taking her eyes away from her would cause her to disappear once again. "I don't get what could've happened."

Lucy shrugged in answer, one of her arms now wrapped around Mirajane's waist and the other tightly clasped with one of Lisanna's hands. "If it helps, all of my injuries were basically healed up when I awoke. Almost like I had never had them."

"Injuries?" asked Wendy, looking in askance at Lucy to see them. "What? Where?" She then flushed lightly as she realised that she had all but thrown the words at Lucy. "A-ah, sorry!"

"It's okay, Wendy," Lucy replied easily. "It was just a few scratches, that's all."

Nearby, Gajeel rolled his eyes, clearly not buying the girls' tone. "Really, Bunny Girl, pull the other leg; it's obvious that you've been injured badly. There's a fuckload of blood down your side and dripping down your face; you look like you've just savaged something."

Wiping her face quickly in answer to the dragon slayer's gruff words, Lucy wrinkled her nose in disgust as she realised that blood was dribbling off her chin. "Gross…"

"Indeed, child," Makarov spoke up, arms clasped behind his back. "You have faced manytrials and have been injured in the process, but you are here now, and that's all that matters."

There was a few weary cheers at that, all of the Fairy Tail members gathered so tired of the fighting that had been going on so far on the island, but still happy that one of their beloved nakama was alive and somewhat well. But there was so many injured and they still had another enemy to defeat; it felt like this day was never going to end.

"We have one more enemy," rumbled out Gildarts. He stood tall as a pillar of strength for everyone, his gaze sharp as he stared out towards where Grimore Hearts flying base was, according to the information given to them all earlier on from Pantherlily. "But we can't all go chasing after Hades. We need a team to stay back here to protect the injured."

"I'll stay back," Levy offered instantly. "I won't be much help in the battle and I can help Freed write runes to protect the camp."

Gajeel stepped closer to the girl, thumbing back at himself. "I'll stay also; they need some real power to fend off anyone who comes."

Levy beamed up at him, making Gajeel turn his head to the side to hide a small blush. (Which Lucy totally saw and tucked away for teasing material later on.)

"Since Freed is staying here and Ever is injured, I'll be on defence here," Bickslow said easily, his babies drifting around him and echoing his sentiment. "Defence! Defence!"

"I'm too injured to fight," Mirajane said quietly beside Lucy, "and I want to stay back with Elfman."

Lisanna nodded shortly after, looking slightly sad, but determined. "I'm going to protected Elf-nii-chan and Mira-nee; I'll stay."

The elder Strauss sister gave her a loving look over Lucy's shoulder, and Lisanna responded in kind with a soft smile.

"Well I'm going to fight Hades," Gray spoke up coldly, his eyes dark. "He has a lot to answer to."

"Juvia will join you!" The Water mage clasped her hands in front of her and fluttered her eyes towards Gray. "Juvia will be honoured to fight beside Gray-sama!"

The Ice mage shook his head in response, making Juvia wilt. "No, Juvia, your leg is still injured from that fight with Meledy."

"I can heal it," Wendy offered, ignoring Carla's protests that she would use up too much magic. "I'll heal Juvia and go with the others to fight Hades. I'll only be of use in support, but I hope that it'll be enough."

"Of course it will," Erza said kindly to the smaller female as she studiously ignored Juvia's cries of happiness and 'Gray-sama!' that was going on in the background. "I will fight beside you and the others. Hades has caused too much pain to not go unpunished."

Lucy let go of Lisanna's hand to clench it in determination, her eyes flashing. "And I'll be beside you, Erza, opening up a can of whoop-ass on him!"

"Whoa, Lucy-chan," chuckled Cana, holding up her hands in a halt gesture. "You know you can't do that without me beside you! It's a duel job, and there's no way I won't stay here if you're going!"

As Lucy hugged the girl in answer, Gildarts placed a hand on Cana's head, looking down at her proudly. "If Cana's going, then I'm going too. This bastard needs to know not to mess with family!"

Hearing that last statement, Lucy nudged Cana to get her attention. She then gave her a sly wink. "So you finally told him, huh?"

Cana nodded wryly in return, ignoring Lucy's triumphant eyebrow wiggling in place of watching Wendy heal Juvia's injured leg. "Yeah, and all it took was thinking that my best friend was dead."

Lucy instantly sobered at that, eyes flicking between the brunette and the rest of the guild members as they began to split up; some, like Freed and Levy, were starting on defence, while others, like Gray, Pantherlily and Erza, were discussing tactics to infiltrate Hades' ship, using the information that Pantherlily had given to them.

As she was about to reply with some comforting words to Cana's statement, Lucy noticed that the crowd of people had cleared, and she could now see a certain pink-haired boy and blue cat standing nearby.

Lucy had noticed that neither Natsu nor Happy had come up to her when she had arrived to the camp, and that had _hurt_. It was like, since she wasn't really their partner anymore, she didn't matter. That whether Lucy lived or died wasn't really important to them at all. And that hurt a lot more than any of the scars on her body.

And seeing Natsu, his hair hanging so low over his face that she couldn't see his face, talking quietly to Happy by his feet, the exceeds' back to her, only cemented that thought.

Almost as if picking up on Lucy's thoughts, Cana placed her hand lightly on the girl's bare shoulder, eyes trained on Natsu's stiff form nearby. "He cried when he thought that you had died, you know? I'd never seen him cry so hard before, not even when Lisanna died. He went absolutely nuts and Gildarts had to neutralise most of the fire he'd put up around himself to find him. It was pretty bad."

Pressing her lips into a thin line, Lucy didn't reply. Well, it really wasn't like she could. What the hell would _you _say to such a comment like that, let alone to something who cried over your death. And everything was ten times worse when you weren't even _dead! _It was preposterous! And when you add in the whole background dilemma of Lucy's abandonment, fight and emotional pains, all from said person who thought you were dead. Well…it didn't get more complicated than that.

Unless, of course, Lucy had been impregnated by Natsu, but that was taking it to a whole new level of stupidity and emotional pain.

"Go talk to him," urged Cana, pushing Lucy gently towards the boy. "I think you two having been fucking around this problem for too long now. It needs to resolved. Go hug and make up or something. Actually, better yet, make out and make up."

"Cana!" shouted Lucy, sounding scandalised and blushing a pretty pink.

The brunette flapped her hand uncaringly in answer, before shoving Lucy more firmly towards Natsu and Happy. "Go, you idiot, and get this lover's spat right behind you. You've got two minutes before Erza yells at us and makes us head out."

Wisely ignoring the remarks about Natsu and hers relationship – _they aren't like that!_ – Lucy nodded determinedly before heading towards Natsu and Happy, her head held high.

It started drooping a few metres short of them, and Lucy's determined walk turned into a shuffle as all of her doubts dragged her down. She carefully stepped up behind Happy, noting that Natsu didn't look up once, even though he would easily hear her approach with his enhanced hearing. Unsure of what to say, Lucy coughed lightly to get their attention.

When Happy looked up at her, she gave a crooked smile, hoping that it didn't coming out as too much of a grimace. "Uh…hey, guys…"

"LUCY!" screamed out Happy, sprouting wings to flap up to Lucy's chest so that he could bury his face into it and wrap his tiny paws around her as far as he could. "YOU'RE ALIVE!"

The blonde could feel tears wetting her rather torn tank top, and twitched slightly at the feeling, but kept down her protests at her friend's distress. "Yeah…funny that. I was never really dead in the first place, Happy."

The exceed just continued to wail into her chest. Lucy was sure that he was saying something, but it was all somewhat garbled into her chest due to snot and tears. Ew. And it was all over her. Double ew.

"It's okay, Happy," the blonde said softly, patting his head to soothe his tears. "I'm right here."

Right here and not daring to look up at the suspiciously silent Natsu. How much of a coward was she? Hadn't she sworn to be stronger, to not be seen as a weak little girl anymore? She was letting down her promise, and Celestial mage's never go back on their word!

That thought straightened up her spine, and Lucy raised her head up to look at Natsu. At least, at his shaggy hair that was hanging over his eyes in a way that normally endeared him to Lucy, but just annoyed her right now.

Natsu was meant to be strong and fearless, and now he was an even bigger coward than she! Well, that just wouldn't do.

"Hey," Lucy said, poking Natsu in the arm. "Hey, you. Do I know you? I'm pretty sure I know another pink-haired boy who looks a lot like you, but he's really talkative, and loud, and he's crazy brave. You look a lot like him, but you're _obviously_ not him since you're standing there like a _coward_, and not saying a _single word._" Lucy gritted her teeth slightly, looking away from the still silent Natsu.

She had meant it to be joking, to soften the awkwardness between them, but, by the end, it come out hard and bitter. It revealed only some of her true feelings, but it was more than enough to offend Natsu, even if he was normally unshaken by insults. Unless they were from Gray, of course.

And, she could see it had gotten to him, as he finally raised his head to look at her.

But rather than furious, blazing eyes the colour of green so dark it was almost black, she was met with an expression that she had never seen before. And before she could question him, or even just apologise for her words, Natsu was already speaking.

"I thought you were dead…"

Lucy sighed. So this was how it was going to go. "I know, Natsu. About ten other people have told me. But I was never dead, not even close." The blonde opened her mouth to continue to talk, but froze when warm fingers softly pressed themselves against her side.

Eyes intense, Natsu gently stroked the new scars that Lucy had somehow got through the massive tear in her top. The ridges of skin were hard under his calloused fingers, and that made him mad, because Lucy was never meant to be _hard. _She was soft. And not in the way of weakness, emotionally or physically. Not at all. Lucy was one of the strongest people he knew, but she was meant to be…soft in the way that was caring, and innocent.

Not now, and not ever, was Lucy meant to be the girl in front of him, with scars on her pale skin, and jaded eyes that looked tired and angry at everything. She wasn't meant to be like this. And that made Natsu mad. Mad at the _bastards_ who had done this to her. And mad because he knew that he was one of those bastards.

If he had just…If he had…

UGH! It was so frustrating! All the things that he had said and done unthinkingly to her, just screwed her up even more. He couldn't list off all of the things that he had done in the past three months, but he could bet that Lucy could. And in detail. In detail of how every stupid word, and foolish action had broken her heart in different ways.

How the hell was he meant to make up for that? Igneel had never taught him how to fix broken relationships, or apologise for stupid stuff he'd done. And Erza had never seen fit to fix his social skills. But he couldn't blame her, as she'd been locked up in a tower for her early life, and had been a prisoner of circumstance ever since.

This was his problem, and he couldn't blame anyone else for this.

"I'm sorry, Luce," the Fire mage finally whispered. "I'm sorry for abandoning you, and saying all those stupid things, and…" He lowered his head, not wanting to look her in the eyes. Not wanting to see her accusing gaze, asking why he wasn't there.

His chin was suddenly lifted up by worn fingers. Not the fingers that he used to know, but the fingers of this new, _hardened _Lucy, who was now looking him in the eyes with a bit of her old softness.

"Natsu," she said, in that exasperated tone reserved only for _him. _"You are one of the biggest idiots I've ever known, you know that?"

"Yeah," he muttered in reply, lifting the hand that wasn't resting against her side to wrap around her fingers that were under his chin. "I know. I'm the biggest fucking idiot in all of Fiore."

"Earthland," Lucy corrected with a chuckle, not with a giggle, like she once would've. "But, even though I hate everything that you said or did to me…I just…I don't know how to hate _you_. Even though you called me _weak_, and left me, it…it was good, in a weird way. Being left on my own, and told where I stood…it made me realise how far away I was from you and the rest of the guild. I needed that time alone to push myself, and find out exactly where I could go. I needed to discover my own strengths and—oh Mavis this sounds so cheesy." Lucy laughed slightly at the end, and Natsu grinned weakly, pretending not to notice her choked voice or the tears in her eyes.

"I know I said those things, Luce, but I never, _ever_ meant them. You are one of the strongest people I know, and I'll shout that all across Fiore just to make sure everyone else knows. You can smile and laugh, even when everything in your life is so screwed up, and you can keep both me and Gray in check, and make Erza see reason without resorting to violence."

"Most of the time," Lucy inputted, smiling slightly.

Natsu nodded. "Most of the time." He then pulled her hand away from his face to hold between them, squeezing her fingers lightly. "And most of the time I'm an idiot—"

"Understatement of the century."

"—but I really do think of you as my partner, and it's my job to protect you and keep you safe. Which I failed at today and—"

"Natsu Dragneel!" Lucy suddenly bellowed out, tearing herself away from a significantly surprised Natsu. Happy wailed out in surprise and fear and clung to Lucy tighter, trying his best not to fall off. "Lucy!"

"Did you learn nothing!" Lucy continued to shriek, ignoring Happy's cries and Natsu's startled expression. "I am not a FUCKING DAMSEL-IN-DISTRESS! I don't _need _you to protect me! I am perfectly capable to do it myself! I thought you'd have learnt that by now, but obviously your pea-sized brain can't _fucking _comprehend that! So let me tell you in a way that will hopefully finally penetrate that brain of yours!"

"Here it comes," Gajeel whispered to Bickslow, something akin to a giggle lodged in his throat. "Wait for it…"

Natsu cringed back in fear as Lucy stepped into his personal space and thrust her face into his, smacking her forehead soundly against his in order to glare deeply into his eyes with her startling brown ones. She then grinned in a way that was a mere shadow of her previous beaming, sunshine-y one; all twisted corners and sharp teeth.

"You don't take any shots that go towards me, you don't beat up the bad guys that I'm taking on, and you certainly don't try and save my life unless it's very, _very _dire. I am an independent woman who doesn't need to be picked up, held close, or even protected. I'm a Celestial mage with a fuckload of spirits behind her, and more ass-kicking skills in her arms and legs than a goddamn male on steroids. So if you want to help me, Natsu, and be my partner, then you have to learn that I fight _my own_ fights, and will happily kick _your _ass if you don't hurry the fuck up and _learn _that. _Quickly_." Finishing off with a glare, Lucy nodded to herself, looking proud at what she said.

"I accept your apology," she said formally to the shell-shocked Natsu, "and I will fight beside you. But I will not stand behind you, Natsu, and you need to learn that. _Or else._" With one last sharp look towards Natsu, the blonde turned on her heel and walked off with her head held high and one hand absently scratching Happy's ears in apology as he clung to her chest.

By the time she walked up to stand beside Cana, Lucy was sure that she was shaking. She hadn't meant to say all that stuff, but it had just come out in a massive word vomit. And none of it had sounded nice, but…it was so true. She wasn't some weak little girl anymore, and Natsu had needed to know that.

Sure, he was probably a bit shocked and hurt over such words, but it would be okay. She hoped…

"Way to give it to him, Lucy-chan," Cana said with a grin as she smacked Lucy on the ass, only grinning wider when Lucy squeaked. "I bet that was a whole bunch of bottled rage just exploding out, wasn't it?"

"U-uh, yeah," Lucy said with a blush. "I really didn't mean to say that, but…"

"Eh," Cana said in a carefree tone as she slung an arm over Lucy's shoulder and began to direct her away from everyone. "He'll get over it. For now, though, call out that sexy maid of yours and let's go get changed!" The brunette smirked down at the exceed clinging to Lucy. "Do you wanna watch, kitty-cat?"

Happy wisely got out of there as quickly as he could fly, no matter how much he wanted to talk to Lucy.

* * *

**Lucy P.O.V.**

"Thank you so much, Virgo!" I said to my beloved spirit, marvelling at the softness and flexibility of the three-quarter length black pants that I was wearing. The slit up the side of each leg meant that I had plenty of room to move without being hampered, and the pants tightness just doubled that factor. Pockets at the back of them meant that I could easily attach my key pouches to them without the fear of them being lost.

At first, I had been greatly sad about the loss of the special whip, Fleuve d'étoiles, that Virgo had given me. However, upon summoning said spirit and asking for clothes for Cana and myself, she had reappeared with beautiful clothes, and a new belt for me. A belt made of gold strands braided together, and could easily be disconnected via the odd, plug-like buckle at the front.

When I had first pulled apart the belt, I hadn't known what to do, but with Virgo's patient guiding, I was able to hold the thicker part of the belt and whip it around like my usual weapon. The braiding meant that the whip was strong, and it was actually able to crush rocks when I lashed it around one and yanked on it. The fact that the small links that made up each strand could extend, much like Fleuve d'étoiles, made the whole thing a whole lot sweeter.

After absently fiddling with my belt, I continued my check on the flexibility and durability of my clothing.

Twisting my upper body slightly to test the strength of the red, traditional silk top I was wearing, I was happy to note that the buttons on it held well and the cut on the short sleeves meant that I could easily raise my arms up and over my head with no resistance.

"Sexy outfit, Lucy-chan," came a purr from the corner of the cave I had ducked into to change. "Those boots on your feet make me want to get down on my knees."

I blanched at Cana's words as she came to stand by me, her characteristic smirk on her face. Even after spending two months with Cana, and then some, I still find her humour so crude and absolutely startling, even for a Fairy Tail member, who characterised in crudeness and startling people.

"I'm just kidding," the brunette snorted as she tugged on the loose sleeves that were attached to the white midriff top she wore. "'Though, I would get on my knees to get another pair of these killer pants." Cana sashayed over to my, swinging her hips in her long black pants. "Love 'em~!"

"I am glad to be of assistance," Virgo spoke up from her position beside me. "Is there anything else you need from me, Hime? Punishment?"

"Nope," I said firmly. "You may go home, Virgo. Although, I may call upon you for the battle later on; just be prepared."

"Of course, Hime," Virgo said as she bowed. As she disappeared into glittering dust, my spirit locked eyes with me and offered me a small smile – which was a big deal for someone as stoic as Virgo. A soft whisper reached my ears, and I grinned widely as my spirit completely disappeared.

A hard thump on my shoulder, courtesy of Cana, brought my attention to the brunette as she jerked her head towards the entrance of the cave. "C'mon, Lucy-chan, our feet have got a date with Hades' ass."

"Un!" I agreed before charging out of the cave beside my friend.

Sure, I was absolutely terrified of what was to come – I mean, hello, Hades is the fucking Master of one of the biggest Dark guilds in Fiore – but I felt stronger with my nakama by my side, my gloves on my hands, and my spirit's words whispering in my head.

"_Win, Hime, because I know you can…"_

* * *

**A bit of a lame ending to this chapter, but ah well, what the hell?**

**I wanted it to go on a bit longer and get the whole Hades fight out of the way, but I felt that this was the perfect part to end this chapter. The next chapter, however, will be more fighting based than this one, and will show the changes in the Hades fight, as well as finishing up this whole arc.**

**Another point I wish to make – well, several, really – is about where I'm actually going with this story.**

**Now, I know that I said this was originally written to oppose all of the terrible 'Lucy Leaves' stories out there, but I just want to point out how I've gone by this; by taking each main point that reoccurs in every story, and simply making it better or completely flipping it the bird.**

**In this chapter, I mentioned the whole 'Lucy gets pregnant with Natsu after a one-night stand' cliché. In the previous one, I did 'Lucy gets killed,' and continued it on into this chapter where 'Lucy gets resurrected somehow' comes into play.**

**Ones that I've already used includes:**

'**Lucy gets forgotten/abandoned by Fairy Tail – especially Natsu.' I did the abandoned point of view, and it was only really Natsu.**

'**Lucy gets replaced by Lisanna.' Well, Lucy thought she was going to, and that she should, but she didn't, because that whole idea is so stupid.**

'**Lucy goes into a forest to train.' I don't know why, but Lucy always goes into the forest to train in every one of these stories. But rather than meeting a dragon or getting an instant power-up, I did Lucy going with friends on legit guild business – a job – rather than her getting her guild mark removed and all but abandoning Fairy Tail.**

**I believe those are the main points that I've covered, but there's only really two more that I have to do, and those will be the initiative for the Grand Magic Games.**

'**Lucy goes to Sabertooth,' and 'Lucy goes out with Rogue and/or Sting.'**

**With those two, expect a whole bunch of drama and a fuckload of jealous dragons and general smutty, fluff.**

**Tee-hee, can't wait!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hola mi amigos! It's been a while, hasn't it? But all good things come in due time and all that jazz, so here's another chapter that'll hopefully get you through the week.**

* * *

**Disclaimer: **_I'm stuck on Tenrō Jima while the real FT gang are actually everywhere else – I don't own them or this land._

**Warning: **_FIGHTING! YEAH! SWEARING AND VIOLENCE! LUCY KICKING ASS! POOR ATTEMPTS AT NALU!_

* * *

**3****RD**** P.O.V.**

By the time that Lucy and the others of the attack team finally stood in front of Hades there was already a singing through her veins of adrenaline, and a slight shudder of her hands that made her clench her gloves in anticipation.

She was scared, sure, but there was also a thrill that made her entire body tense and ready, her eyesight sharper and her nose able to smell everything – from the odd medicine scent of Erza's body wraps to the whiff of smoke that she associated with Natsu.

So, when she looked into Hades' one eye beside some of her closest nakama, Lucy smiled, because there was no way that she was going to lose; not when she had her nakama beside her, pushing her towards victory.

"Look at this," Hades boomed out in a voice that may have once been smooth and cultured, but was now much rougher with age and darkness. "A bunch of little fairies dancing in front of me; how quaint."

"It won't be so quaint when we pull your frilly knickers over your head and strangle you with them," Cana snapped at him, eyes sparking with anger. Beside her Gildarts looked on with pride; Lucy could've sworn there were tears in his eyes. Crap, her nakama were fucked up in the head.

Hades scowled at Cana's response, his dark eye flickering with some sort of unholy light. "All of you Fairy brats are so rude; back in my day, we—"

"Yeah, yeah," Natsu interrupted hotly, "you're old; we get it. Now, are you going to shut up and fight us, or are you too scared to?" There was a wolfish grin on Natsu's face as he spoke, like fighting Hades would give him an unreasonable amount of joy; and he called Lucy weird.

Rather than going off into another tirade about his wicked plans like so many of their previous enemies, Hades merely nodded curtly, a hint of cruel amusement curling up his thin lips. "Indeed."

At that one word all of the gathered Fairies tensed up – Erza's sword rattled slightly in her clenched fists – prepared for anything that would come their way. But what they didn't expect was for Hades to stand there, arms folded neatly behind his back as he gazed at them calmly.

Lucy counted at least two stuttered heartbeats before Hades plucked up one thin arched brow. "Well, are you going to come at me, or am I having to go to you?"

A loud snarl came from Lucy's right, signalling the beginning of the battle as Natsu threw himself forwards. His hands were aflame, and his dark eyes sparked dangerously. Those fists came in swinging as he sprinted at Hades, but the older male barely seemed fazed as he ducked Natsu's attempt at knocking him out.

A dance of limbs began then; Natsu darting in and out of Hades's range with legs and hands of fire as Hades cleanly dodged every attack, his beard swaying back and forth as he did so.

It would almost be comical – Natsu's stumbles as he overextended and Hades's bored façade – if only it wasn't for the fact that this was a highly dangerous battle between one of her friends and an S-ranked mage that was powerful enough to knock down Master Makarov.

Luckily Fairy Tail had two of their own S-classed mages in the room, and another who had been proclaimed to be S-class at her previous guild. They also had a bucket full of rage and determination to win that helped put the ball back in their court.

So when Natsu was sent tumbling back across the polished floor of the ship by an almost casual backhand courtesy of Hades, Lucy took the opportunity to dart forwards alongside Cana and Erza.

As they ran, Lucy crossed over to flank Erza's right as Cana took up guard on Erza's other side. It was almost funny, how they clicked so well, even after a month or two of being apart. Lucy felt like moving beside Cana and Erza was as easy as breathing; everything flowed smoothly, without a hitch, and almost instinctively, like there was a thread tying her to the other two girls.

When Erza drew her sword up to swipe at Hades's smug face, Lucy dropped back, prepared to help out wherever she could.

The redhead took charge of the battle, her sword swinging in an unpredictable pattern that was merely dodged by Hades. Her face was twisted in anger and frustration as she continued to press onwards to the Grimore Heart master, her pale skin shining almost as brightly as her sword with sweat.

Abruptly, Hades's hand snapped out to grab at Erza's throat. The girl's eyes went wide as she bent back to avoid it. They snapped back into focus quickly, though, and she barked out an order to her left. "Cana! Point!"

The brunette in question bared her teeth in answer as she rushed forwards to take over Erza's position, hands already digging into her side bag for a card that would help her out.

But Hades wasn't so eager to let Erza go, and he demonstrated his first piece of magic of the fight as his hands glowed a sickening black – like the darkness of a never-ending black hole. Glowing chains whipped out from his hands, groping blindly for Erza; to main her, cut her to shreds, and destroy her and her entire existence.

Lips pressed together in concentration, Erza leapt erratically from side to side, swaying on her bare feet to miss each shot at her body.

Lucy took this opportunity to step up, her gloved hands coming together as she called Erza's name desperately.

The older girl gave no sign that she heard the plea of her name, but instead danced between Hades's attacks and Cana's explosive cards with a grace that showcased her name Titania, Queen of Fairies perfectly. After a few precious seconds of doing this, Erza suddenly took several leaps backwards, right towards where Lucy was waiting.

Much to Natsu, Gildarts, Gray, Juvia and Wendy's shock, Erza didn't even look as she leapt backwards to alight on Lucy's waiting cupped hands. With a show of strength that none watching could have guessed, Lucy threw her arms up, sending Erza back flipping over her head to land safely beside them.

Almost instantly, Lucy's hands shot to her key pouch, drawing a golden key that swiped up to cut through one of Hades's chains before slamming back down towards the ground to open a gate by Lucy's beckoning.

Cancer arrived in a golden flash, barely having time to assess the situation before he was slicing through the links of magic that Hades threw at him. Lucy joined him shortly, her belt unlatching with a _chink_.

"Damn…" Gray muttered as he watched the flash of gold that was previously Lucy's accessory go wiping around the room, fending off Hades's magic in a dance of light verses darkness. "I didn't know that Lucy was so…"

"Yeah…" Natsu replied breathily, his dark eyes locked on Lucy's lithe form as she danced around Cana and her spirit to lash out at Hades. He blinked suddenly, his eyes lightening up with his usual bright spark of determination. "But what are we standing around here for? Let's go and help!"

Gildarts led the charge this time. "I'll help you, my sweet Cana!"

"Oh my God!" Cana managed to moan in embarrassment as she flung several shuriken cards at Hades, each one just missing. "Just stop!"

A laugh escaped Gildarts mouth as he stopped beside Cana, his coat fluttering around his boots. "Never, Cana-chan." He gave her a saucy wink before turning to Hades, his normally jolly face freezing. "As for you; you tried to hurt my guild, and therefore, my daughter; I'm going to kick your ass."

"I'm sure," Hades drawled, amusement crinkling his lone eye. "But I'd prefer for this talking to stop and the battle to commence." The elderly man seemed to take a moment to assess Gildarts, lips pursed. "If your name does not proceed you, I shall have to take this seriously."

Almost instantly a dark glow enveloped him, spreading out like ink into the air. It brought a taste of terror to Gildarts lips, and the ginger frowned at the barely known sensation.

Juvia stuttered to a stop beside Gray, having prepared to rush Hades beside her beloved. "W-What the hell is this feeling?" She choked on her words, pupils dilated in her deep ocean orbs as she stared in horror at Hades. "T-This…"

Beside her, Gray froze as his heart hammered in his chest, face flushing with the sensation of terror. 'I haven't felt like this since…since Deliora."

Surveying the Fairies who had begun to tremble before him, Hades let out a small smirk before upping the amount of magical power he was leaking out.

With a sharp squeak, Wendy dropped to her knees, thin arms going around her legs as if to protect herself. Erza wished to go to her to comfort her, but she was too busy trying to keep a hold on her swords that trembled and wavered in her hands. The redhead desperately bit her lip, hoping that the pain would snap her out of her fear-filled haze.

It did her justly, and she managed to turn her head to see Gildarts begin to battle Hades; both were clearly just testing each other, but Erza knew from experience that any battle Gildarts was in would get out of hand very easily.

Those that were able to shake off the cold, gripping sensation of Hades magic latched on to whoever was near them and dragged them back out of the way of the upcoming battle – Juvia didn't make a sound as Gray latched onto her wrist and dragged her back, nor did Wendy when Erza scooped her up and herded Cana away, but Lucy let out a short, sharp sound when Natsu swept her off her feet. It didn't last very long as she slid out of his grasp at her earlier convenience, huffing as she shuffled aside to stand by Cancer and dismiss him with a nod of thanks.

Natsu shot her a look she couldn't comprehend, making her turn her head to watch Gildarts fight so that she didn't have to look into his pitch green eyes, even though she could still feel them burning into the side of her head.

A sudden shockwave brought Natsu's attention forwards, and he settled in to wait alongside the others for an advantage in the fight of Gildarts and Hades.

And, oh, what a fight it was.

Gildarts unimaginable power was being thrown around with a savage force that none of the Fairy Tail mages had ever seen before. The ground cracked and caved behind him as he launched into powerful kicks and punches that let out tremendous thunderclaps when they impacted with Hades's unmovable arms and legs.

They two continued to trade blows, moving swiftly throughout the room with faint glows outlining their forms; Gildarts in a pale gold and Hades in a fathomless black. Each stomp of the ground from Gildarts resulted in the very ground quaking and the Fairy Tail members scrambling to get an anchor so that they could stay upright – Juvia was very happy to clutch to Gray for her anchor.

A fist managed to make its way through Hades guard and he was sent stumbling back from the blow. Gray took advantage of this and swiftly slammed his hands against the ground. Ice spread from beneath his fingers, crawling across the floor to slide under Hades's feet and send him slipping for a precious few seconds.

Natsu capitalised this moment and burst forwards in a flare of flames. Fire enshrouded his fists and he let out a primal roar before punching Hades square in the face. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

The Grimore Heart master made a sharp gurgling sound as he was launched back. His cloak tangled around him as he slid on his back against the ice Gray had formed, and he couldn't stop himself from smashing into the wall of his guild.

Seeing a brief break in Hades's guard, Juvia stepped up to the challenge, her arms swiping upwards to flick arcs of water at his downed form. "Water Slicer!"

The attacks hit with a dull crash, but Hades seemed to brush it aside as he staggered back to his feet. His eye glared balefully from beneath his bushy brow and he contemptuously swiped some dust from his shoulders before focusing back on the Fairy Tail mages. "Is that the best that Fairy Tail has to offer? After all these years I had hoped—"

"Crash!" Gildarts snapped out, raising one hand to blast out a web of gold that rocketed towards Hades.

The older male laughed scornfully before batting the magic aside with glowing fists to impact against a wall. The wall that cracked and caved under Gildarts' attack, falling down in a great rumble to reveal the rainy skies outside.

"Foolish little Fairies," Hades laughed out, his boots clicking as he walked forwards. "You really think that—"

A sloshing sound cut him off, and Hades looked at Juvia in vague surprise as she raised her arms up, a look of concentration fixated on her face. The rain outside was now pouring in at an impossible angle, the drops splattering against the Fairy Tail mages. Soon, though, they began to swirl and condense above Juvia's raised arms, much to the shock of the people in the room.

"What is this…?" Lucy managed to breathe out before she was ducking her head alongside everyone else to dodge the wall of rainwater that Juvia proceeded to toss at Hades. "Water Nebula!"

"Holy fuck," Cana said eloquently as she watched the water go ramming into Hades, sending him sprawling back against the wall. "That's our Juvia."

Smirking at the sight of a sopping wet Hades on the ground, Gray clasped his hands together before slamming it on the ground once more. The water on the floor quickly began to freeze, and then condense around Hades.

The man struggled as the ice crept up his leg and arms, but it wasn't long until his whole body was frozen in a block of ice; his eye glaring out through the element all the while.

The Fairy Tail mages all stood there for a moment, unsure of what just happened.

"D-Did we win?" Wendy asked hesitantly, her big eyes staring at Lucy and Erza in askance. She got a shrug in answer from Lucy, while Erza looked at Hades thoughtfully.

"Well that wasn't so hard," Natsu said uncaringly, ruffling his spiky hair. "I mean, I didn't—"

The ice surrounding Hades shattered, and the Fairies let out loud sounds of surprise as they were blown back by the force of the explosion of magic. They all went skidding across the ground, each having various degrees of success in standing up.

All of a sudden the flare of magic died down, and Hades was revealed. He was smirking, not a single scratch on him and not a hair out of place as he stepped forwards. It was only the slightly tattered look that his cloak now held that gave away the fact that he had just been in a battle. "Did you really think it would be that easy, little Fairies? I am Hades, the strongest of Grimore Heart and the one who has been chosen to find Zeref; I will not be beaten so easily."

A dark aura began to surround Hades once more, and Lucy found herself choking on air as the pressure pressed down upon her. It was ten times worse than what Hades had unleashed before, and through eyes made hazy by fear, Lucy could see her nakama slumping around her, completely overwhelmed by the malicious presence that was Hades.

Only Gildarts had managed to stay standing, holding Cana up with one arm, but even he was stumbling in his steps. He had faced down Aconologia and came out alive, but right here, right now it felt like he was going to die. Hades had a presence that demanded fear and respect, and the focus he had with his dark magic only made this worse; it felt like he'd never see the sun shine again, nor would he be able to live and breathe without fearing of dropping dead. It was an awful feeling of hopelessness and despair, and Hades revelled in it as he approached the trembling Fairies collapsed on the ground.

"Pathetic," he sneered before kicking out at Erza. The redhead tumbled back head over heels with a sharp cry of pain, having been unable to block the kick that smashed under her chin.

"Weak," Hades continued, picking up a shivering Wendy by the scruff of her neck before tossing her aside to crash into Erza.

"Useless." Gray was backhanded without a single thought, head snapping to the side with a cough filled with blood. He lay on the floor, blood slowly trickling out his bitten mouth, dark eyes barely focusing on the form of Hades as he approached Juvia.

"You hurt Gray-sama!" the blue-haired girl managed to cry out weakly. Her legs wobbled as she attempted to stand upright. "How dare you!"

"No," Hades rumbled out as he stared down at the pathetic female at his feet, "how dare _you _think that you could defeat me. It makes me sad to say this to the members of a great guild like Fairy Tail, but the likes of you will never amount to anything, so don't even bother to try and get up; you will never succeed."

He reached down to pick Juvia by her throat, intending on snapping her neck to cow the Fairies into silence, but was interrupted by a choked out laugh.

Hades turned to see the stupid blonde girl, on her hands and knees trembling, but with a smirk on her face, glaring up at him. "What is it, you foolish little girl?"

"Never succeed?" Lucy asked him, hysteria making her voice jump several pitches. "Never succeed my ass! If I counted the amount of times someone's told me that I would never amount to anything, that I was too weak and stupid to succeed at life…there wouldn't be enough fingers in this room to count on. But if I had to count the amount of times I stopped because of their words, because I thought I'd never succeed. Well, I can do that on one hand."

Lucy laughed again as she raised a shaking hand to show him her middle finger. "Jokes on you, asshole."

"Ha ha!" another laugh echoed out from the other side of the room. Cana grinned at Hades from where she was slumped against Gildarts, both their arms around each other to help them stand upright. "Lucy's right, old geezer; you can go fuck yourself, because we are Fairy Tail mages, and we never _ever _give up!"

"We never back down from a challenge," Natsu added with a growl as he stood up on shaky limbs. "That's not how Fairy Tail mages live! We won't give up until whatever's in our way is demolished and our nakama are safe!" The Dragon Slayer glowered at Hades, their eyes locking onto each other. "So, asshole, are you going to move out of our way, or are you going to stand there and get demolished?"

Much to Natsu's, and everyone else's surprise, Hades began to laugh at that. A full on laugh that only ended when he wiped the tears from his eyes and turned something that could loosely be called a proud smile onto them. "I'm glad to see such spirit, especially in Makarov's kids."

"How do you know Master?" Natsu demanded.

"Because I met him when he was a young boy, still a mere member of Fairy Tail," Hades replied with a nostalgic look in his eye. "The last I saw of him was when I appointed him Third Master, and he wasn't so much of a young boy then, but he still had the mind of one."

"W-Why would _you _appoint him Master?" Cana asked, a terrible suspicion slinking into her mind. "The only person who could do that was…"

"The previous Master?" Hades asked with a chuckle. "Well, it was good luck that I was the Second Master, wasn't it?"

There was various sounds of disbelief from the gathered Fairy Tail members, all shocked that a man this dark could ever be part of their beloved guild.

Natsu was the most vocal once again, stepping forwards to yell angrily at Hades. "You're lying! Fairy Tail mages are good, and you're an evil asshole; there's no way you could ever be part of Fairy Tail!"

It was obvious that Natsu was about to work himself up into a rage, and he was only stopped from continuing when Gildarts said his name quietly, but firmly.

The ginger male didn't look at Natsu when he spoke his name, all of his attention was focused on Hades, who stared back in dark amusement. Gildarts narrowed his eyes slightly before frowning deeply. "You're Purehito, aren't you?"

A dark grin stretched Hades face. "Why, yes I am. I'm glad that someone at least knows their history."

"Purehito?" Wendy asked. "Who is that?"

Gildarts spared the girl a look, one heavy with unspoken horrors. "He was the Second Master of Fairy Tail; he's speaking the truth, guys, he was the Second Master of Fairy Tail."

Loud exclamations of disbelief were thrown around once again, and it wasn't until Juvia stood up and spoke did they stop.

"It doesn't who Hades used to be, and it doesn't matter who Hades is now. Hades is an enemy of Fairy Tail, and Juvia thinks that Gray-sama and the others shouldn't be thinking about the past right now as it doesn't matter. Juvia thinks that right here and now matters, and Juvia wants the others to see that." The blue-haired girl glared at Hades as she said this, determination making her clench her hands by her side. "Juvia is going to fight Hades, no matter who he used to be as Hades is hurting Fairy Tail right now, and that's unforgivable."

At her words the rest of the Fairy Tail mages began to rally, each helping each other up to go and stand in a group.

Erza had her hand clasped in Wendy's as her other held her sword, giving her strength to stand proudly against Hades. Next to them Juvia had a soothing hand on Gray's shoulder, glaring at Hades all the while for daring to make her Gray-sama spill his blood. Behind them stood Gildarts and Cana, both with the exact same angered expression on their face as they took comfort in each other. And over to the side Lucy dragged herself upright, ignoring the hand that Natsu offered her.

"I can help myself," she muttered as she brushed by him to stand behind Wendy, one hand going on the girl's shoulder.

Natsu looked after her with a desponded expression for a moment, his hand still reaching for hers before he dropped it with a scowl and turned where he was to address it towards Hades. "We don't care who you used to be. You're an asshole right now, so that means we're going to kick your ass for being one and hurting our nakama."

In answer, Hades lifted his hand up in a classic gun shape and shot a bullet of pure magic through one of his fingers. It hit Natsu's leg with a loud thwacking noise, making the boy stumble back out of surprise and pain.

"Hm," Hades mused over the shocked cries of the other Fairy Tail mages, "durable one, isn't he." Almost absently the ex-Fairy Tail Master shot more bullets of magic towards Natsu, some missing as Natsu sluggishly weaved back and forth, while others pierced him at various intervals.

"Stop it!" Wendy cried out, horrified by the proceedings. "Stop!" The girl rushed forwards much to everyone's shock, her arms crossing in front of her as she gazed at Natsu desperately. "Vernier X Armour X Arms!"

Both she and Natsu glowed a soft blue, and Hades raised a brow in amusement and curiosity as he realised that the bullets weren't piercing Natsu's skin so much anymore and that the boy was a lot quicker now. "A support magic, eh? That's something you don't see too often; I guess I'll have to make my magic dance more."

The bullets that Hades had been constantly shooting at Natsu began to pick up in speed and abundance, and it was obvious to everyone that he was having trouble staying upright.

"Damn it!" Lucy cursed just before she threw herself forwards, ignoring her friend's pleas. She entered the rain of magical bullets as quickly as she could, wincing every second as another bullet dug into her flesh. But one of her gloved hands managed to latch around the severely weakened Natsu's arm. Using the strength she had been building up for the past few months, Lucy clenched her muscles and swung Natsu around to go flying out of the hail of bullets where he was safely caught by Gray.

After seeing Natsu safe, Lucy allowed herself to refocus on the pain that she was feeling; every bullet was like a knife going into her skin. The pain didn't last long, but there was more than enough bullets to make up for it. She held up her arms to ward off the ones that were aiming for her face, but that proved to be a mistake.

Lucy couldn't help but let out some muffled screams as a bullet dug into the tender flesh of her right hand, the effect of the magic burrowing its way through her gloves to set her nerves on fire with pain.

But when she did so, the bullets stopped raining down on her.

Lowering her arms, expecting for someone to have knocked Hades away and therefore breaking his concentration, Lucy was shocked when she looked straight up into the eyes of Hades, who was standing uncomfortably close to the blonde.

"You have spirit, child," Hades said in his gravelly voice, sending shudders up Lucy's spine. "It's a pity that I must do this to you."

Before Lucy could ask 'What the hell are you going to do to me?' Hades was tossing her across the room. She only managed to get a glimpse of a bright glow engulfing Hades fist before it was suddenly in her face and her arms were raising up to block whatever the hell it was. Almost instantly, agony exploded through her senses, originating from her arms and crawling its way up to her shoulders to the slide down her spine to seep into every part of her body.

Lucy was sure she was screaming, but she couldn't hear it over the sound of the explosion happening around her. Flames engulfed her, holding her in burning hot embrace until darkness took over, dragging her down…down…_down…_

But Lucy didn't want to go down into the depths again. She had already been knocked unconscious so many times in her life and once, _just once_, she would like to fight back; to struggle upwards to the light where her nakama were waiting for her.

She would not be a burden. She would not be useless. _SHE WAS NOT __**WEAK!**_

With a great wrench of effort Lucy pulled herself from the abyss of unconsciousness to go hurtling right into the bright burn of pain and consciousness.

The first thing she realised was that her arms were on fire. Perhaps not literally, but they felt like they were slowly being eaten away by a great inferno. It was more a bruising pain filled with sharp stabs that felt like fires had been lit on her limbs, but Lucy felt so distorted that she could safely say that she wasn't even sure if it was her arms she was feeling, and maybe not her legs; her head was swimming in progressive circles, she really needed to focus.

The second thing she realised was that it was dark and that she should really open her eyes now.

And she did so with a huge amount of effort, tearing her thoughts away from the pain and just trying to focus on breathing.

The third thing that Lucy realised was that someone was calling her name.

When she opened her eyes, blinking the haze out of them, Lucy was met with the sight of a familiar boy running towards her.

"Shit," Natsu muttered desperately as he slid to a stop beside the feebly stirring Lucy. "You're okay, Luce. It's all good. It's fine. You're okay."

But she wasn't.

When Natsu had seen Lucy go flying backwards from the explosion that Hades had tossed at her face he's nearly felt his heart stop. There was a great scream of pain from the blonde before she had been swallowed up by flames, and that was more than enough to break away from his nakama, leaving them to deal with Hades as he ran to Lucy.

"Your arms," Natsu growled out, "damn it."

Hehad seen her arms go up to block the attack, so he wasn't too surprised to see that they were the most injured part of her battered and singed body. But what was bad was that her gloves – the gloves that represented how far Lucy had come from that fight in her apartment, the gloves that mocked Natsu every time she wore them, about how they had stolen Lucy's innocence – they were on fire.

Natsu allowed himself another quick curse before leaning down towards Lucy, opening his mouth to suck in the flames that were threatening to burn up Lucy's arms.

When he had sucked up and eaten every last flicker of flames from Lucy's arms – feeling significantly more refreshed because of it – Natsu took the time to study Lucy's arms, to see how extensive the injuries were.

Much to his surprise the gloves that Lucy adored so much were crumbling and peeling off her skin, fluttering to the floor in tiny red scraps that reeked of her blood. The skin underneath the gloves were red and slightly raw looking, but a hundred times better than what they would've been had they not had the gloves extra protection.

But the thing that shocked Natsu so much was the scars that Lucy had on her right arm.

There were obviously from the mission she had gone off on for so long, the one that she had when she had returned to the guild and he had apologised, but they were still so red and obvious, even after over a month of healing.

The three red scars curved across Lucy's skin – the skin that wasn't so pale and soft as he remembered – and one of them…One of them went straight through her beloved guild mark, making the elegant fairy ripple oddly.

A whisper of his name had Natsu turning from the terrible scars to focus on Lucy's face.

Her brown eyes were slightly hazy in pain, but it was obvious that she conscious of what was going on. She blinked a couple of times before shaking her head to clear out the cobwebs and attempting to stand up.

Natsu wanted to protest against her moving, but he understood that they were in a battle and that nowhere was safe. And judging by the sounds of the battle behind him, they needed everyone they could get.

"Damn that hurt," Lucy gasped as she heaved herself upright with Natsu's guiding hands. "Never again am I getting hit by an explosion; bad idea."

Despite everything, Natsu couldn't help but break out into a grin at that. "Once a weirdo, always a weirdo."

Lucy shot him a look as she brushed off his hands, but there was a small smile playing around her lips. "Funny, Natsu. We're in the middle of a battle and you're still cracking jokes at my expense." The blonde's eyes suddenly widened dramatically and she pushed past Natsu to look at the battle still unfolding. "Shit! Right. We're still fighting against Hades. There's no time to waste; we have to go and help!"

She leapt forwards to charge into the battle again, but Natsu was quick to grab her shoulders and tug her to a halt. "Careful, Luce, I don't want you to get hurt."

"I'm not a damsel-in-distress anymore," the blonde replied over her shoulder as she tore free and ran ahead. "Remember that, Natsu!"

"Aye," he replied sullenly before perking up at the thought of beating Hades. "Wait for me!"

Lucy didn't bother to reply as she went crashing into the melee of magic that Hades and her nakama were throwing around. Her hands went to her key pouch, and she painfully pulled a key out to summon some help.

Taurus arrived in a flash and a loud moo. Already having been made aware of the situation by Virgo and Cancer, the spirit wasted no time before charging alongside Erza to swipe at Hades with his axe.

When Erza and Taurus were forced to retreat by several chains swinging at them, Wendy took over and spat out a massive roar of air that sent Hades tumbling back to where Gray was waiting patiently.

The Ice mage already had a sword of ice in his hands, ready to go by the time Hades stumbled into his range. The Grimore Heart Master barely had a chance to catch his breath before he was fending off Gray's attack' each swing of his sword threatening to chop off Hades's body parts. But Hades prevailed and shattered Gray's sword with a few well-placed bullets.

Gray dropped back without a fuss, though and allowed Gildarts to step up to send a wave of magic crashing into Hades. It sent him back a fair few paces, right to where Cana had set up a trap created from selected magic tarot cards.

Arcs of lightening exploded from the cards, charging Hades with explosive energy that had him smoking slightly afterwards and cursing Cana out.

Then, for the dramatic last piece, Juvia came in swinging with a cane of water, smashing Hades right into the path of Natsu's Sword Horn.

A ragged exhausted cheer came from the Fairy Tail members as Hades went crashing into another wall, copious amounts of smoking unfurling from around him to smother him in a screen of impenetrable darkness.

"'M Sure that's got him," Cana wheezed out, really feeling the toll of having used so much magic today. "If not, we're fucked."

"We're all out of magic," Erza panted, leaning heavily on her sword. "There's no way we can keep this up any longer. The only one who could keep going is Gildarts."

Said man grimaced slightly, clearly not pleased in being singled out. "My Crash magic isn't suited to this battle; whatever I throw at him he can deflect or nullify. We'll be in stalemate until the person with more magical energy wins, and I'm pretty sure I'd lose that battle."

A chuckle drifted out from the cloud of smoke that covered Hades, and the Fairy tail members felt their heart sink at the sound. A convenient breeze blew away the lingering smoke, and Hades was revealed, tattered and slightly bruised, but better-off than the Fairies.

Hades sent the collected group a smirk. "You're very right. If we continue this the way it's going, you cannot win. No matter how many of you there are, or how strong you are, you will lose here because you do not follow the right path of magic. You all believe that light magic is where true power lies, but I'm here to tell you that true power only lies with Zeref! You can only—"

"Shut up!" Natsu barked out, anger evident in his eyes and stance as he stood beside his nakama. "You don't know anything! You're so old and lost that you can't even see what's in front of you! You claim that you're the most powerful and yet you live like you're already dead, like you've got nothing to lose!" Natsu flung his hands out to gesture at his comrades, fire blazing in his eyes. "But true power comes from living with your life on the line, risking everything to save those that are precious to you; that's true strength!"

"You're a foolish brat," Hades remarked right before he raised his hands up to point them at Natsu. "I'm going to enjoy wiping your life from existence." His hands glowed with the beginnings of Amaterasu, but they were diminished in the bright flash that was a lightning bolt streaking through a hole in the roof – created by Gildarts getting thrown up there – to strike Hades.

Much to the Fairy Tail member's joy and Hades shock and dismay, Laxus Dreyar appeared in another flash of lightning to punch Hades in the face with a fist full of his element.

And thus began an ass kicking of the degree Lucy had never seen in her life.

She had been unable to see the fight of Gajeel and Natsu against Laxus all those months ago, and had never seen him fight because of his exile, so it was a shock to see just how powerful he was. It was more evident than Gildarts own legendary strength as Laxus held himself in a way that was deadly; a snake ready to strike. And he showed no mercy as he fought against Hades, flashes of lightning and chains the only thing that was breaking up the flurry of fists and feet.

Then, all of a sudden Laxus was speaking words of wisdom and strength to them, right before he blocked an attack that was heading for Natsu and was flung from the ship.

A scream of surprise and worry worked its way through many of the Fairies throats as they looked towards where Laxus had disappeared, but Lucy's focus was on Natsu.

Natsu, who was beginning to spark with electricity, who was looking dangerous and, dare she say it…intriguing. This was a side of Natsu she had barely seen before; all heated eyes and words, and focused thoughts of winning for his nakama's sake. For her sake as well.

And so Lucy couldn't help but cheer when Natsu, sparking with electricity and flames attacked Hades with renewed ferocity, each punch exploding fantastically against Hades and each kick and elbow sending small shockwaves throughout the ship.

Of course their luck had to end after a particularly powerful lightning and flame roar from Natsu hit Hades and he _still _got up.

Obviously Cana was thinking the same thing as Lucy was as she shook her fist angrily at Hades, spitting out several curse words. "Just fucking pass out, you old git! We're all going to get old before your wrinkly ass humps its way to the grave the way this is going! Have some courtesy and fucking _die _already, asshat!"

"Cana-chan!" Gildarts shouted, sounding scandalised. "Who taught you such language? I shall—"

"As much as this amuses me," Hades said in his deep, gravelly voice as he dusted off the rubble that had landed on him from being launched into yet _another wall _by Natsu's last attack. "I believe that we need to stop kidding around and start getting real. This is the most exercise I've done in a decade and I wish to finish stretching my limbs."

His hands went up to the eye patch he wore over his left eye, grinning slightly. "I'm going to show you the Abyss of Magic! _**Demon's Eye!**_"

The eye patch was removed to reveal a swirling vacuum of red, so horribly disgusting that Lucy had to turn away for a moment.

Erza caught Lucy's eye for a second, the smallest traces of panic in the redhead's expression. _'Are you okay?' _Erza mouthed at Lucy, who nodded queasily in response. She could sense Hades' magic building once more and dread made her stomach roll; she was scared for what was about to happen.

"Behold," Hades continued, spreading his arms out to convey something glorious. "The power I hold at my fingertips!"

The mountains of rubble that was lying around the room, having been created over the course of the fight began to tremble slightly before almost dissolving into piles of goo. They then began to stretch and elongate, darkening and twisting to create demons with red, soulless eyes that snarled and screeched at the Fairy Tail members.

The dread in Lucy's stomach started to fight with the fear trickling through her veins, becoming a clashing whirl of distress that fought its way up her throat and made it hard for her to breathe. She could feel her knees weakening again, and her arms went out to catch herself before she could hit the ground.

White-hot pain laced up her arms, and that was more than enough to clear her visions of the shadows that had been creeping up on her. She blinked once or twice to get rid of any residue before turning her gaze to her guildmates who were all in various stages of fear.

Lucy could spot Juvia huddled up to Gray and Wendy literally weeping in fear, but the others were lost to her through the dark shimmering forms of the demons that were swarming in on them.

Suddenly, a flash of pink caught her eye, and Lucy swivelled to see Natsu, beaten and lifeless wavering on the edge of a chasm in the floor that had been created by one of Gildarts more explosive kicks.

Without realising it, Lucy was already up and scrambling through the demons on the floor, hands reaching out for Natsu as he fell back. He was graceful as he arched backwards, hands limb by his side as he did so, and Lucy lunged forwards to clasp one of them in her own before he could fall away from her forever.

Natsu's weight pulled painfully on her arms, but Lucy bit her lips to stop herself from crying out, digging her booted feet into a crack in the ground to stop herself from falling in beside Natsu, who was looking up at Natsu with heavily lidded eyes and a tired expression.

"Come on, Natsu," Lucy said thickly, feeling the presence of demons closing in behind her. "We have to keep fighting. Come on, please. We need up here to fight beside us."

It was clear that Natsu was barely holding onto consciousness, having used up so much magical power that day, but Lucy could only hope that he was able to scrape up some more power from tomorrow so that he could keep going. He was their light in the dark, the one who pushed them forwards with his words and actions; they couldn't do it without him.

"Natsu…" The name come out in the form of a sob as Lucy attempted to pull the heavy boy up with her damaged arms. "Please, Natsu. We can't do this without you. We need you." Lucy let out a small wail of anguish as she felt a demon latch onto her leg with cold, clawed hands. "Damn it! _I NEED YOU!_"

But it was too late; Natsu's eyes had closed and he was completely unconscious. There was nothing he could do.

Lucy let out a small terrified scream as the demon yanked her upwards, her arms straining with the effort of holding into Natsu. And to make matters worse she could see his scarf slipping from around his neck, unravelling and threatening to flutter off into the chasm to never return.

Lucy couldn't let that happen; that scarf was the only thing besides his abilities that Natsu had to remember Igneel, his father. She couldn't let it disappear, Natsu would be absolutely destroyed.

So with a super human effort, Lucy held onto Natsu's hand with one of her own as the other whipped out to snatch up the scarf before it could blow away. Her fingers just managed to close around the fabric before she was thrown violently to the ground by the demon holding her, Natsu's unconscious body being flung up to land beside her with a thud.

Quickly winding the scarf around her neck so that she wouldn't lose it – ignoring the comforting scent of campfire and pine that Natsu always had around him – Lucy staggered upright to see Hades smirking at her, his small army of demons already holding her friends captive.

"Quite a feisty thing, aren't you?" Hades asked rhetorically as he studied Lucy's tense form lying on the ground. "You managed to break free of my magic and save your friend; commendable, but worthless in the whole run. You're all going to die here anyway."

As Hades continued to talk, Lucy clutched at the scarf around her neck. Hundreds of thoughts and plans were whizzing through her head, being discarded one after another as it was too foolish, or it wouldn't work at all. Then, a plan crept into her mind. One so simple that it could work without too many hitches; granted that the demons didn't stop her first, or Hades, that she could do it with such a low supply of magic, and without Gemini or someone to amplify her magic.

There was no time for second guessing, though as Hades was already winding down his speech – he sure did love his speeches – and Lucy was running out of time. She had to do it.

With one last look at Natsu and a tug on his scarf to give herself strength, Lucy rolled away from the demon hovering above her. She then had to duck and weave as several attempted to grab her, all the while dodging cracks in the ground from the previous battles, but at last she was in the clear and free.

"Going to run away, are you?" Hades called after the blonde who was currently running towards the opening of the ship created by one of Gildarts' attacks. "Not something I would expect a Fairy Tail mage to do, but how could I know; they've all seemed to have changed drastically over the years. Fairy Tail's just a mere shadow of itself; weak and insubstantial."

At those words Lucy stopped and whirled around, glaring at Hades through the large gap of demons. Her brown eyes were fierce and her stance strong as she stood her ground. "Fairy Tail is not weak! They have never been and never will be! You are the one who is a shadow! So caught up in your hatred and despair that you have turned into a dark twisted memory of what you once had been, Purehito!"

"Insolent brat," Hades muttered to himself before flicking his hands uncaringly at his demon constructs. "Kill her. Kill her now."

The demons began to close in on Lucy, but the girl continued to stand her ground even as her nakama screamed for her to run away from the clutches of the demons.

"I will never run!" Lucy said, chin set proudly as she raised her arms up. "Because I'm a Fairy Tail mage!" An invisible wind swept into the room suddenly, raising her tangled hair up around her ears and creating an eerie effect. It was only amplified as Lucy began to glow softly, eyes screwed shut in concentration, ignoring the demons prowling towards her.

* * *

Elsewhere, on the waters just outside the island, Ultear was crying softly as she used her magic to raise up the Tenrō and restore Fairy Tail's magic.

"I hope this makes up for a little of my sins," she sighed, "Gray…"

* * *

Back in Grimore Heart's guild, Lucy's eyes snapped open to reveal golden glowing orbs that made Cana and Erza's heart leap with anticipation.

"She's doing it!" Cana said happily. "She's really going to do it!"

Lucy's head flung back and words began to spew from her mouth, echoing eerily throughout the room.

"_Survey the Heavens, Open the Heavens...  
All the stars, far and wide...  
Show me thy appearance...  
With such shine."_

"What are you doing, girl?" Hades howled out as his guild faded away, only to be replaced by an abyss of space. Lucy was the only light in the darkness, glowing a golden colour that shone as bright as a star. That was until softly glowing planets of all colours began to appear around Hades, all of them drifting towards Lucy to collect in a massive group.  
_  
"Oh Tetrabiblos...  
I am the ruler of the stars...  
Aspect become complete...  
Open thy malevolent gate.  
Oh 88 Stars of the heaven... "_

"Stop!" Hades screamed out, panic beginning to set in as he realised the heavenly magic that was being invoked. "Stop it!"

It was too late.  
_  
"Shine!  
Urano Metria!"_

To the Fairy Tail mages watching all they saw was Lucy glowing softly as she droned out the spell, Hades becoming more and more agitated as his demons failed to get close to the pure magic. Then Hades began to scream and scream at Lucy, demanding her to stop to no avail.

Finally, everyone had to avert their eyes as a great flash of light washed over them, comforting and cleansing in its aura. The grips that the demons had on them were torn away in the haze of light and when the Fairies opened their eyes the demons were all gone.

Hades stood ramrod straight in the centre of the room, still facing Lucy. He let out a moan before collapsing backwards, his body steaming slightly.

Lucy followed not long after, her legs looking like they had been cut from underneath her she dropped so fast.

"Shit," Gray cursed before getting up to sprint towards Lucy. "She's used too much magical power."

"Haven't we all?" Erza asked wryly as she vaulted over the chasm that stretched across the floor. "Our luck is pretty bad, isn't it?"

"Aye," Gray agreed quietly as he slid to a stop with Erza beside Lucy, Wendy and Juvia following closely behind as Gildarts and Cana pulled up the rear, Natsu draped in between them.

Wendy instantly knelt down beside Lucy, passing glowing hands over the blonde. "She's alright; depleted of magic, but that will pass shortly and some burns on her arm which I'll heal right now."

"I'm damn glad you're here, Wendy," Cana said with a sigh as she shrugged Natsu's arm off her shoulder and let Gildarts pick him up. "We all just need some TLC from the likes of you and we're good for life."

Wendy blushed slightly from the compliment, but didn't turn her head from Lucy. "Thank you, Cana."

"No problem, kiddo."

When Wendy sat back after a few more seconds of healing, she was proud to announce that Lucy was fine and would wake up shortly. Gray and Erza hefted the blonde up and dragged her outside of the destroyed guild and into the sunshine that was emerging from behind the rainclouds with the guidance of Juvia as Gildarts, Wendy and Cana followed after, Natsu safely wrapped up in Gildarts' arms.

"Juvia is glad that's over," the woman said with a sigh as she sat down beside Gray on the ground, uncaring that her torn dress was getting wet from the damp ground. "Juvia was scared that Juvia and the rest of Fairy Tail wouldn't make it."

"Ah," Gildarts chuckled as he sat down on a rock, Natsu leaning against, "that's the thing, beautiful; Fairy Tail mages _always _make it through."

"Ew, Dad," Cana whined, thwacking Gildarts on the leg as she sat down with Erza, Lucy's head quickly being situated into the redhead's lap. "Stop flirting with my nakama."

Gildarts simply laughed again, not sounding apologetic at all. "Sorry, my little love pea."

"DAD!"

The rest of the battle group couldn't but crack tired grins and laugh slightly alongside Gildarts at Cana's mortification.

That was how the rest of Fairy Tail found them; sprawled out in the sun in front of a ruined husk of what used to be a state-of-the-art ship, laughing with two unconscious people in their midst.

"You brats," Makarov sighed with a proud tone in his voice as he marched alongside the rest of his children to greet the victors, having just scared off lesser members of Grimore Heart and collected Happy, Carla and Pantherlily along the way. "You're all going to give me a heart attack someday."

Beside him Laxus smiled softly, having been picked up and forgiven by his grandfather along the way. "Hopefully not too soon, old man; we still need a guiding hand to help us."

"That you do," Makarov agreed as he walked closer to his brats. "But you are finding your way now, and I couldn't be prouder." The tiny man looked up at Laxus, a smile fixed on his wrinkled face. "I'm proud of you, Laxus."

The smile on Laxus's face bloomed and he fought back the tears that threatened to come to his eyes. "Thank you, jiji."

"Now," Makarov said snappily, breaking the moment. "To scream at some brats for nearly scaring me half to death!"

* * *

**Lucy P.O.V.**

When I woke up, it was to a blue sky above my head and a blanket beneath me, cushioning the hard stone ground.

Taking a few deep breaths, I allowed myself to let out a few tears. We'd won. We'd actually won! _I_ had won! I'd seen Hades go down before I'd lost consciousness, and that meant I'd done it! I wasn't weak anymore; I could face anything in my path and overcome it. I was strong, confident and nothing and no one could ever bring me down! I was—

"Luce?"

An undignified squeak erupted from my lips as I rolled over to see Natsu's face right beside me, the rest of his body laid out on a bedroll of his own. Bandages covered his face here and there, and his eyes drilled into my own still watery ones, but his lips were downturned and his brow furrowed, like he was trying to puzzle something out.

Trying to discreetly shift back to gain some room without him noticing, I offered Natsu a hesitant smile. "H-Hey! You're okay. That's good. I was hoping that you were okay. I mean, I did have to leave you for a while and—"

"Was this while I was unconscious?" Natsu asked bluntly, a stupid expression replacing his quizzical one from before. "'Cause I don't remember much after attacking Hades and him getting back up to summon those demon-thingies." He looked at me hopefully, his face looking very young at that moment. "But we won, didn't we? That's why we're here and, you know…"

"Not dead," I finished for him bluntly. "Yeah, I'm guessing we won. I passed out not too long after you, though."

"I heard about that," Natsu muttered, rolling until he was propped up on one elbow to peer down at me, his shaggy hair curling around his ears. "What happened after I passed out? I heard from Gray that you saved me from falling to my doom or something."

I laughed nervously, raising my hand – wow was it bandaged heavily – to tug nervously on my hair as I looked back up at the blue sky overhead. "I wouldn't say it was that drastic or anything…"

"Lucy, look at me." Natsu's massive hands engulfed my own as he tugged them to make me turn, but he was careful in doing so, conscious of my wounds.

I was hesitant to look in his eyes because of all of the strong emotions that I could find there – a constant swirl that I couldn't help but get lost in – but I eventually did and found myself pinned in place by his (excuse the pun) burning gaze.

"Luce," Natsu repeated, "you saved my _life_. If it wasn't for you, I would've fallen down that chasm and died."

"Hey," I said softly, blanching at such a thought, "don't say that. You're Natsu Dragneel; the most indestructible idiot in Fiore, there's no way you could've died."

A wry grin curled up Natsu's lips, making my gaze flicker to them for a moment before I wrenched them back up to meet his eyes – what the hell was happening to me.

"Even so," said Natsu, "you looked out for me and saved me, even after all I did to you."

Swallowing slightly at those heavy words, I bit my lip as I thought over how I would respond. It was such a serious statement that was basically asking for my forgiveness. And looking into Natsu's surprisingly fragile eyes, I found the answer there.

"It's okay, Natsu," I said firmly, "nakama forgive their nakama, even if they're an idiot who needs to think before he speaks."

Natsu's trademark grin spread across his face, flashing every single one of his white teeth and I couldn't help but respond in kind.

"You're the best, Luce!" Natsu cried out before flinging himself down on me to give me a hug.

I struggled against it, face flaming as Natsu draped himself all over me, arms wrapping around to give me a tight bear hug, but I found myself giving up pretty quickly; there was no getting out of this.

"Ara, ara," a familiar voice spoke up from out of my vision, sending waves of icy cold panic through my veins. "What do we have here? Some cute babies being made, I hope."

"Mira!" I wailed out, struggling out of Natsu's grasp to stand up and glare at the white-haired girl who was giggling nearby. "Stop laughing! It's not funny!"

"No," the older girl agreed, "it's adorable."

Heat bloomed across my cheeks as she continued to laugh, and my temperature only spiked higher as Natsu stood up to throw an arm across my shoulder, his _naked and bandaged chest pressing against my back._

Mirajane's amused laughter rung in my ears as I struggled to get away from Natsu once again, but I couldn't help but laugh too; everything was okay and I had my partner back. What could go wrong in the world?

* * *

A lot apparently, in only a few minutes.

Another roar made the ground beneath me rumble, and I could only stare in horror as Acnologia batted away any attempt of an attack my nakama threw at it.

The great dragon had arrived in a howl of thunderous cries and wingbeat, making the ground shake beneath us. I wasn't quite sure who had put a name to the beast, but suddenly we were all crying its name in fear and despair.

We had just survived Grimore Heart and now this? This was awful. This was painful. This was life-ruining.

And even though Master had told us to run and live, we had all come back because if we died, we'd sure as hell die together, fighting to the last.

But I had no magic to give and my whip wasn't making a single scratch against the dragon's hide' I was once again worthless, useless and weak. I was insignificant to this one creature, and that helped me realise and remember how small I was in the cosmos of the universe.

But such thoughts had to wait for another time, perhaps

_(if there ever was going to be one)_

because I needed to focus on here and now with my nakama.

And that the fact that Acnologia was rising into the sky, shaking off any attempt to hold it down and preparing to breathe out the mightiest dragon roar I will ever experience in my life.

"Oh Mavis," I muttered to myself as despair wrapped its icy hand around my heart, "please have mercy on our souls."

And then Natsu was suddenly beside me, wiping off my tears with one of his warm hands as the other clutched at my right. "C'mon, Lucy, we're all in this together; until the very end."

I managed to give him a pained smile, keeping my mouth shut in fear of what would come spilling out of I did dare open it. Natsu returned it was a much more watered-down version of his usual grin, tugging me over so that I could grab hands with sweet little Wendy, who was much too young to die.

The blue-haired girl that I'd come to love offered me a tear-streaked smile as she clutched at Carla's paw, small sniffles wracking her tiny frame.

"I'm sorry, Wendy," I whispered to her as I squeezed her hand softly. "I love you, sweetheart."

Wendy's face was filled with shock for a moment, before her hand clung to mine with a fierce determination and her eyes softened to a soft chocolate colour. "I love you too, Lucy."

We both looked forwards, locking gazes with the people that we'd grown to love over the past year.

Cana offered me a smirk from where she was standing beside her father, but there was no usual confidence in her dark eyes. Instead, they glimmered slightly, reflecting the light that managed to pass Acnologia's giant girth as it hovered above us.

Nearby Erza smiled softly, seeming at peace with what was going to happen; I imagined that this experience was something that wasn't new to her, and that made my heart wrench.

My eyes blurred over the Strauss siblings, tears clouding the vision of them leaning against each other, whispering words of love and comfort to one another. Then it was passing Levy and Gajeel, my little bookworm's hand dwarfed by the ex-Phantom Lord mage, who had proved his worth over and over, and had made so many amends.

I made eye contact with Gajeel and mouthed to him _'Protect her in the next life for me, okay?' _

Rather than brushing it off or scowling in reply, Gajeel offered me a courteous nod before turning back to Levy; we both understood each other, there was nothing else to say.

I caught a snatch of Laxus and Master side-by-side, happily reunited for a few bittersweet moments before the end came. And Evergreen, Freed and Bickslow were right beside their leader, looking strong and proud to be with him once more.

Gray and Juvia were both quiet, holding hands tightly despite the fact that Gray hated physical contact. It showed both that Gray was accepting of Juvia, which was good, but also that he feared what was to come and wished to seek comfort, which was tragic. But I flashed Gray a quick smile that he returned, and I felt a little bit better that he could do so at a time like this.

There was a squeeze at my right hand and I managed to look up to see Natsu smiling a smile I'd never seen on him before at me right before everything was engulfed in a flash of light.

Then there was darkness.

* * *

**Gfuiehtf,WM1X R EFHWEO**

**I'M DYING THIS WAS SO BAD! I'M SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG AND WAS SO SHITTY WITH ITS TERRIBLE FIGHT SCENE AND ITS CRAPPY ATTEMPTS AT ROMANCE BUT PLEASE FORGIVE ME OKAY GOODBYE!**


End file.
